Running Parallel
by JunoInferno
Summary: John Smith makes his way in Pete's World, working at Torchwood, starting a family with his own Donna Noble and battling the Silence, who have new and unexpected allies and oddly familiar enemies. The companion piece to Regarding Mrs Smith.
1. Missing Her and Finding Her

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, the alternate Donna or Rose. If I did, life would be different, wouldn't it?

This is my attempt at what happened to the Duplicate in Pete's World and you can think of it as a companion piece to the Regarding Mrs Smith Universe, so this is like AU of an AU. You don't need to read that story, except Chapter Four might help some. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and let me know what you think.

As a warning, if Rose is like your favorite character ever and can do no wrong in your eyes, this may not be the story for you. Just thought I would give fair warning.

* * *

><p>He had told the Doctor he would give it a month.<p>

One month with Rose Tyler to see if whatever spark that had made him fall for her what now seemed like eons ago still existed.

It had taken the Duplicate Doctor or Handy or as he was now known In Pete's World, John Smith, the ferry ride home from Norway to decide that no, that spark was definitely gone.

Who the hell had decided the ferry was a good idea anyway?

Although Jackie Tyler might have been happy enough to be in her own universe she continued to harangue John about the fact that the Doctor had left them in Norway. That was hardly John's fault he hadn't wanted to be there at all. If it hadn't been for Donna he never would have come at all.

It would have been awkward he realized: he was the Doctor-Donna, part Donna, part Doctor, but definitely in love with Donna. He should have probably tried to pass himself off as a twin. He had wondered if the Doctor left him here specifically to keep him from Donna, but then dismissed it. No, the idiot had actually thought it was the right thing to do. He thought Rose could make him a better person.

No, not so much. Although it had made John wish he hadn't destroyed the bloody Daleks so he wouldn't have been brought to the stupid universe in the first place. But Donna had been next to him and they could have killed her and the baby. That's what made him angry enough to commit genocide.

He wondered about them all the time. Time passed quicker in Pete's World so he was always trying to work out the calculations. One month there meant a week and a third back with Donna. Three months there she was now four months pregnant. A year there and it was Christmas with Donna. Then one day he did the calculations and realized the baby must have been born by now. He pictured her cuddling a ginger Time Baby.

And it broke his one lonely heart. At the same time, he had no claim to the baby and the strongest claim. The fact that time went slower meant that his image of the baby lingered longer and longer, becoming even more imprinted on his mind.

He didn't want to be alone anymore. The Doctor and Donna's time together had given him a taste of what it was like to be with someone, to be part of a couple and a family and once you've had a taste of that, being alone is impossible.

* * *

><p>Jackie Tyler was at Parents' Evening at her son Tony's school. She was new to it, Tony was just in reception this year and though she didn't show it, Jackie still had a difficult time negotiating the world of the posh mum. She was in a room full of strangers and though Pete was sympathetic, he was working late tonight as with so many other nights and thus, Jackie was left to navigate this minefield alone.<p>

Then she saw a familiar face.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Jackie Tyler."

The woman turned to her. She had very red hair, green eyes and pale skin. She was dressed in a black suit and looked as if she had just come from the office.

"Oh, hello, Donna Noble." She held her hand out decisively and gave Jackie a firm handshake. "Pete Tyler's wife, right?"

"Yeah."

"How is Pete? Is he here tonight? I used to run into him every so often before he started with Torchwood."

"No, he's at work tonight." Jackie paused. "Is your husband here?"

Donna shook her head. "No."

"Boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

Donna just smiled. "Yeah, there's nobody. Just me."

Jackie motioned at the artwork. "Is that your child's?"

Donna nodded proudly. "Both of them actually. I've got two: Joshua and Ella. They're in Year three."

"Twins!," exclaimed Jackie.

Jackie got out her mobile as soon as she stepped out of the school hall. She couldn't wait until she got to the Jag and dialed her husband.

"Pete, I've just met someone. I've got an idea." She paused. "Is Rose around? I'm not on speaker, am I?"

* * *

><p>Friday afternoon. John hated Friday afternoons.<p>

Friday afternoons were best left to those looking forward to the weekends. Those looking forward to the weekends often had someone to meet or something to look forward to and John had neither.

Worse than that, was the Friday afternoon meeting. It wasn't really a meeting, not an official one anyway, but every Friday at precisely four-fifty, his colleagues Adeola Oshodi and Gwen Cooper strode over to his desk, pretending to have a casual interest in his weekend.

"So, John," asked Gwen, "big plans this weekend?"

"Yes, I've decided to enter a ballroom dance competition."

"Really?," asked Gwen with bright eyes.

"No, Gwen."

"Don't tease like that," said Adeola, "it's not nice."

"What are you really doing then?," asked Gwen.

"I suppose I need to buy a new toothbrush," said John.

Gwen and Adeola looked at each other.

"Really? That's what you have planned?," asked Adeola.

"Oh, my God," said Gwen. "John! You need a life!"

"I don't want a life. I'm fine."

"You are not fine!," said Adeola. "John, this is not normal. You at least need a hobby."

"What about cricket?," asked Gwen.

"What about it?"

"You said you were good at it. You could join a cricket club and you would meet other blokes and you would make friends with them and you would probably go to the pub with them for a pint!," said Gwen.

"You said that about the book club," John protested.

"I was wrong about the book club, I can see that now. Sport is different, you hardly need to talk for sport."

"She has a point," mused Adeola.

"Then it's settled. I'm finding you a cricket club."

"I don't need a cricket club!," said John.

"Gwen and I will come to your first match," promised Adeola.

"How are we all?"

They looked up to see Bernard, he was the head of the Extraterrestrial Department, a nice man in his fifties.

"Fine, sir," said John.

"Are the girls trying to find you plans for the weekend?"

"They are."

"We all need a life, John," Bernard smiled. "Clementine and I would have you over, but it's parents weekend at my daughter's school."

"It's alright," said John. "I'll be fine."

"Well, I'll be off," said Bernard. "I have to go battle the M1. Oh, John, one more thing, Pete Tyler needs a file brought to his house around seven. Do you think you could manage that? He was sure to mention Rose wouldn't be there."

John grimaced. He wondered if there was anyone at all in Pete's World that didn't know about the absolute disaster that had been he and Rose. "I'll take care of it," said John.

"Good then. Have a good weekend, all."

"Cricket!," said Gwen walking off to a computer.

Adeola looked at John. "Look, if you haven't found anything by Saturday afternoon, ring me. We can go to the cinema."

"I keep telling you, Gareth does not want me tagging along with you."

"He'll deal with it. I'll make him."

"I appreciate the thought, but really I'll manage."

"You know what you really need?," asked Adeola.

"What's that?"

"A wife."

John scoffed. "I doubt I'll ever find one of those again."

"Don't give up, John."

* * *

><p>John walked in the front hall of the Tyler Mansion perplexed to find a sea of waiters and people dressed for a cocktail party. He held the Torchwood file in his hand, wondering where to find Pete. Instead, Jackie walked up to him.<p>

"What are you dressed like that for?," she exclaimed.

He looked down at his clothes. "This is what I always wear."

"Yeah, I know!" She shook her head in dismay. "Well, it'll have to do. No time to get you changed. She's already here so try not to act like an imbecile."

John shook his head. "You don't mean Rose, do you? Jackie, please, no."

"I'm not stupid, you know. I was on the ferry back from Norway with you two, remember? Trust me, I think you'll like her."

Pete rushed over. "Is that what you're wearing?"

"What are you two on about?"

"We're trying to set you up," said Pete.

"Oh, I'm fine, I don't need to be set up," said John.

"Got a big social life, have you?," asked Jackie.

"Just go in and have dinner with her," said Pete. "I'll introduce you two. If you don't like her, you never have to see her again."

Pete ushered John into the dining room, where the guests had begun to mill. Harriet Jones was talking to someone, a ginger someone, wearing a green silk dress that clung to her in all the right places.

"I beg your pardon, Madame President, I'd like to introduce you both to someone."

The woman turned.

It was her.

Donna Noble.

"This is John Smith, he's just been promoted to Senior on the Extraterrestrial Desk at Torchwood. This is-"

"Harriet Jones, President of Great Britain."

John nodded. "It's an honor, ma'am."

"And this is Donna Noble. Donna, John."

Donna smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, brilliant."

Donna looked taken aback. "What?"

Pete smiled at this bit of success. "We should be sitting for dinner. Madame President, why don't I show you to your seat?"

John showed Donna to their seats. Dinner was served and John didn't quite know where to begin. Luckily, Donna did.

"So, John," said Donna, "do you like working at Torchwood?"

"I do actually."

"Aliens, Cybermen, that sort of thing?"

"It's supposed to be classified."

Donna snorted. "Yeah, right. The secret everyone knows about."

"What do you do?," asked John.

Donna narrowed her eyes. "Are you putting me on?"

"No."

"You mean you really don't know?"

"I really don't."

"Don't you ever watch telly?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting to buy one."

"Are you serious?"

"Very."

"Well, I'm Donna Noble."

"I knew that."

"No, I meant, Donna Noble. The Noble Family of Networks? I bought every communications outlet Cybus Industries had in Europe after the corporation was liquidated? Mind you, I got it all cheap, but it did take a little ingenuity."

"That little logo on the bottom of the telly? That's you?"

"That's me," said Donna. "You mean you really don't watch television?"

"No."

"You're not like a snob?"

"No, I really just keep forgetting to buy one."

They kept chatting all night, even as the other guests left. Jackie and Pete would have let them stay all night talking, but Donna finally noted the time and they said their farewells on the front steps.

"Good night, Donna," he said.

"Good night, John."

John walked away and came back.

"Sorry. I never asked for your number."

Donna raised an eyebrow. "And what do you need that for?"

"Well, it's just... if I ever want to see you again, I'll have to ring you and to ring you, I'll need your number to ask you... to places."

Donna smiled and took a business card out of her bag. She turned it over and wrote on the back. She held it out to him. "That's my office number, my assistant's name is Ianto. My mobile is on the back."

John took it. "Thank you."

"So? Do I get your number or do I have to sit around waiting for you to ring me?"

"Oh, right. I don't have any cards..."

"Do you have a phone or have you forgotten to buy one of those as well?"

"No, I have a phone, just need a bit of paper..." he started patting down his pockets. "These used to be bigger."

Donna took a tiny memo pad out of her bag along with a pen and handed it to John.

"You're prepared for everything," remarked John.

Donna shrugged. "Hardly."

"Well, good night," said John starting to walk away again.

"Is your car all the way over there?," asked Donna.

John stopped. "I don't have a car."

"So, you're going to..."

"Take the bus."

"I could give you a ride home," said Donna. "You know, if you like."

"Right..." said John.

"You don't have to. I mean, we could go get a drink?," said Donna. "I hardly ever get out for anything other than work. This is a big night for me, really."

"Well, then," John grinned, "I wouldn't want to stop your fun."

* * *

><p>They had been sitting in the pub an hour already. Donna drank a wine and John had a ginger beer. They were still talking, they were good at talking.<p>

Then John's mobile went off.

"Work?," asked Donna.

John glanced at it. "It's nothing."

"Another woman?," she asked with a smile. "I don't like games, John Smith. My last two boyfriends turned out to be totally worthless along with my husband. I don't take chances anymore."

John smiled. Was it possible for this Donna to be even feistier than the one he left behind? He handed over the mobile. "Look all you want."

Donna took it. "Text from Adeola, am I saying that right?" John nodded. "She's reminding you to buy food. Are you really that helpless? You might be too much of a project for me."

"I forget to buy food sometimes. And eat."

"And you keep forgetting to buy a television."

"I forgot to buy a bed for a month. Gwen finally dragged me to IKEA."

"Gwen," said Donna, scrolling through the mobile, "lots of texts here from her as well. She's reminding you to eat, saying that bananas do not constitute dinner. Are you like an idiot savant or something?"

"That would be accurate," John admitted.

"Have you got any other women looking after you?," asked Donna.

"No, Gwen and Adeola are work colleagues. They look after me quite a bit."

"And Pete and Jackie," she added. "They were falling over themselves to set us up."

"Were they?"

"Do you just know them through work?"

"I... dated their daughter for a while."

"Really?," asked Donna. "Seems a bit young for you."

John scoffed. "You have no idea."

"She must have done a number on you if her parents feel sorry for you." She paused. "I wonder how they knew the two of us would hit it off so well. No offense, you're not what I usually go for."

"Are you going for me?"

"I might be."

"Well, you're what I usually go for," said John. "Just so you know."

"Rose Tyler isn't your type?"

"She used to be, I grew out of it."

"That's more than a lot of blokes can say."

"I'm not like a lot of blokes."

Donna studied him carefully. "I almost believe you."


	2. Silly Love, Crazy Love

It wasn't all Rose's fault, really. Even John had to admit that. Some of that fault belonged to the Doctor. Then some of the fault was his own, which was just great, because he already had the Doctor's guilt issues.

The Doctor's cagey nature with his feelings had one of two possible effects. The first, which was more common, was that people didn't know what they meant to him and thus underestimated their value in his eyes. This had been the case with Donna until he finally screwed up enough courage to tell her. The second was rarer and what had happened with Rose.

She imagined that she meant as much to him as he did to her, which is to say, everything.

On her visit back to the original universe, he had done nothing to blatantly dissuade her from this view because, as usual, he was oblivious to feelings. He failed to mention he was married to Donna now and not at all in love with Rose anymore. He took a way out of the situation most men didn't have, he left his duplicate with his ex-girlfriend on a beach in Norway, thinking they would get along okay.

John had told Rose the truth that day. The Doctor was going to tell Rose he loved her that time before, which seemed like lifetimes ago. He just wasn't going to tell her that day, Rose's kiss to him, John later concluded, was a last ditch attempt to arouse the Doctor's jealousy.

Of course, being the Doctor, he was completely oblivious to that. Although, he was a little distracted by the possibility that his wife's brain might blow up any second.

To say Rose was a little surprised when she looked up to see the TARDIS gone was a catastrophically huge understatement.

"He left!," she exclaimed. She looked back at John. "What's he doing?"

John didn't answer. Which was okay because Rose wasn't waiting for an answer. She was waiting for the TARDIS to come back and refused to listen to very convincing arguments from her mother and John that it wasn't.

After Rose stormed out of dinner on the ferry that night, Jackie and John were left for a very awkward pudding course.

"So," said Jackie, "back on the TARDIS what were you lot talking about?"

"Sorry?"

"Come on, I'm not stupid. You took the Doctor back. Then he came and got Martha and then Jack and then Sarah Jane went back there. You all must have been chatting about something."

"No..."

"Funny that Donna wasn't with you all. I got the impression that she was really special to the Doctor, neither of you could take your eyes off her the rest of the time." Jackie sat back in her chair, satisfied at her powers of deduction. "Strange ring she had on."

Blimey.

"I can explain," said John.

"Alright then," said Jackie.

John explained everything, what had happened after the Doctor had spoken with Rose on the beach that day, how Donna had appeared in the TARDIS, the time they spent apart and how fate had brought them together again at Adipose Industries. The whole "just mates" fiasco and how the Doctor had finally come to realize what Donna meant to him. The wedding, the honeymoon, all leading to that awful day at Shan Shen and the stolen Earth. Jackie wasn't happy, her daughter had just blown a good ten years of her life on the Doctor, but she understood. He had moved on, something Rose had not been able to do.

Then she said, "You have to tell her the truth."

He might have been a Duplicate, but John had no more desire to do that than the original had.

* * *

><p>"Well," said Donna, "this is interesting."<p>

John looked around. It wasn't quite the reaction he had hoped for, but examining his own flat he wondered what he had been expecting. The walls were bare, the only furniture he had managed to buy for the sitting room was a chair and a bookshelf. He had a small dinette set, given to him by Adeola when she moved in with Gareth.

Donna wasn't supposed to be here, they were supposed to meet at a Thai restaurant for their fourth date- fifth if the set up counted. Donna had a stockholders' meeting run late and her assistant had rung John to convey the message, followed by Donna ringing an hour later to see if it was alright if she dropped by with some Chinese takeaway.

She looked up at John's worried expression. "Don't panic. I haven't run out screaming, have I?" She smiled and put the bags on the table. "I didn't know what you liked so I got everything."

"I'll get plates."

"Oh, you've got plates. Very posh," said Donna as she sat at the table.

John returned with the plates. "I'm sure men usually take you to much nicer places."

Donna scoffed.

"What?," asked John.

"I take them. Men only go out with me if they need someone to foot the bill."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I didn't mean you," Donna said quickly. "And I don't think they all start out that way. Lance did."

"Lance?," asked John, his curiosity piqued.

"My first huge mistake after my divorce. Day of the wedding I find out he's been stealing company money, so shaming. Then Shaun, bought him a sports car and he ended up leaving me. Then probably another half dozen worthless blokes just looking for a rich wife."

"What about your husband?"

She paused. "Fair enough. The night of the Cybermen, I was at work. I didn't see him again for three days, he said he was disoriented, but I didn't believe him and I ignored it. Then I had the twins and I was on bed rest for two months, but he was still going out and he said it was work. Then my dad died and he was nowhere to be found, meant to be on a golf weekend in Scotland. Ianto used the credit cards to track him to Monte Carlo where he had several charges for jewelry and women's lingerie."

"Sorry," said John.

"So, if I come off like a paranoid bint, that's why."

"I would never call you that."

"So, quid pro quo, Mr. Smith," Donna said with a smile, "what happened with Rose Tyler?"

John took a deep breath. "She tried to drown me."

"What?"

"Well, she pushed me, I don't think she really meant to drown me, but I did end up in hospital with quite bad pneumonia."

"Not that there's an excuse for it, but what did you do before that?"

"There was this man... we were close. He set Rose and I up in fact, they used to go out together, well, sort of. He married this rather wonderful woman and I was trying to explain to her that he wouldn't be leaving her for Rose and she didn't want to hear that."

"Why would she think that he would leave her?"

"Well, in fairness, they hadn't seen each other for a while. She just thought he would be waiting for her."

"And what did the wife have to say about that?"

John looked up at Donna. "What would you have to say about that?"

Donna smiled. "Quite a bit. None of it polite."

"Well, she was quite similar, but she was preoccupied. She was pregnant and had some... brain problems."

"Oh, my God," said Donna, "is she alright?"

John panicked. He didn't mean to get it this far. Why hadn't he just lied? The Doctor might have had a point with the lying. He didn't know if the other Donna- or was the one in front of him the Other Donna?- was hoped, they had a plan. She would be fine, though. The Doctor would see to that. He wouldn't leave her, he wouldn't be able to stand being alone any more than John.

"She's fine. With her husband. Baby girl. They're... brilliant."

"Well, that's good," said Donna. She looked over at a package propped up against the wall. "Is that a cricket bat?"

"Yes, Gwen is trying to get me to join a cricket club. She and Adeola say I need a hobby."

"Well, everyone needs a chance to relax," said Donna.

"What about you?," asked John.

Donna snorted. "Single mum with two kids and a business to run? No. Every New Year I say I'm going to take up yoga or something and I end up falling asleep during the first class, then I'm too embarassed to go back."

"You should take better care of yourself," said John.

"Pot? Kettle? Ringing any bells here?"

John nodded.

"This cricket club, what do you have to do?"

"Practice on Wednesday evenings, matches every Saturday in Hyde Park."

"You should do it," said Donna.

"No."

"Don't you know how to play?," asked Donna.

"I do-"

"Are you any good?"

"Yes, actually. Team captain at school, it was the only thing they let me be in charge of, believe me."

"Then you should do it. It might do you some good."

"Donna, that's very nice of you, but-"

"I could come watch."

"What?"

"Well, is this the sort of thing that wives and girlfriends come to watch? Not that we're..." She took a breath. "Anyway, I could come watch you. I'm more into football, but I would come."

"That would be brilliant," said John. He took a breath. "So, you probably have to go home soon."

"No," said Donna.

"Oh?"

"They're down for the night," said Donna, smiling coyly. "Why? Do you have any ideas about how to occupy my time?"

* * *

><p>Donna rolled off John feeling very satisfied.<p>

"It's been a while for me," said Donna.

"Me as well," said John.

"Well, you're not out of form," said Donna.

"Neither are you," said John.

Then his mobile rang.

"You're joking!," shouted John.

Donna snorted. "Welcome to my life."

John rolled over and searched for his mobile in the pile of clothes on the floor as he hung from the bed. Donna smacked him on the bottom and he looked back at her in surprise.

"Sorry," she said smiling, "saw it and couldn't resist."

"We're going to return to this topic," he said with a grin.

"You had better."

John found his mobile in the breast pocket of his jacket. He picked it up. "John Smith."

Then Donna had the strangest one side of a phone conversation she had ever heard.

"No, I think you want Cyril Logan, he's in the dimensional transport department."

There was a pause.

"Cyril's in a coma? What seems to be the problem? Where's Mildred?"

Donna propped herself up on her elbow to watch John's face. Whatever it was seemed serious.

"Do you mean you can't find Mildred or- oh, you think she got sucked in?"

Donna's face contorted. Sucked into what?

"I thought that was locked up, who opened the vault?"

There was a long pause and John's face got serious.

"Of course she did. I'll be there as soon as I can."

John hung up the mobile and leapt out of bed. "I am so sorry, Donna."

"What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Everything will be fine, I just have to get there," he said pulling on his trousers. "Have you seen my shirt?"

"The floor in the sitting room where I left it," said Donna. She got up and started searching for her own clothing and getting dressed again. "Should I be worried? It's not like an alien invasion or something, is it?"

"No, no invasion, just a slight hole in the space time continuum."

"I'm sorry, the what?"

"It's nothing."

"It sort of sounds like something."

* * *

><p>Donna drove John to Torchwood, despite his insistence there was no cause for alarm. Whatever it was, she was certain it wouldn't be helped by his waiting for the bus.<p>

"Why are the lights out?," asked Donna.

"Power drain, I would guess." He looked at Donna. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem."

"And the rest was..."

"Yeah."

He sat there.

"John, are you going to go deal with the hole in space time or whatever?"

"Right! I'll ring you!"

John ran out of the car and into Torchwood.

The Dimensional Transport lab only had emergency lighting on when John arrived. Pete was there, along with Rupesh, the third in command, who also looked as if he'd been rushed out of bed.

They were all looking at a door frame, or it would appear to be a door frame, actually a dimensional portal used by a resident alien living in a house on Earth. Torchwood had taken possession of it a few months back when John had warned them about it. The frame was glowing and shooting out bolts of energy, which John could only assume was what had put Cyril in the coma.

"John! Thank God! You have to stop it!"

Rose was sitting at a station. "I can stop it!"

John walked over to the computer and looked again at the door frame in front of him.

"The Balvaran Portal, I told you it was unstable," said John.

"I've got it!," Rose insisted.

John pushed Rose aside and started going through the scans.

"What have you done to the control matrix?," he asked.

"It's isomorphic," said Rupesh. "Anyone can turn it on, but only the primary user can turn it off."

"The perfect trap..." mused John. "Here."

He took a tablet computer and plugged it into the outbound cicuitry of the door frame. His fingers flew across it and soon the door frame's glow dissipated.

"What did you do?," asked Rupesh.

"Rewrote the base code. Put it into self-termination mode."

"Will it be operational again?," asked Rose.

"No, Rose, it won't. And it's certainly not going to get you back to the Doctor," said John. "A simple escape portal, it couldn't handle the load of trying to cross dimensions so its circuits fried, leaving Mildred who knows where."

"If it was operational, I could try to find her," Rose insisted. "I'm pretty good at that."

"We can't have that," said Pete. "No, Mildred will have to stay where she is. We can't go ripping holes in the universe just because we'd like to."

"What does that mean?," snapped Rose.

Pete put his hand on Rose's arm and she shook it away. "Rose, let's discuss this in my office."

"No! You can tell me here!"

Pete drew a deep breath. "You're suspended, Rose, pending further investigation."

"You can't suspend me! I saved the universe!"

John couldn't stop himself. "Sorry. You what?"

"This doesn't involve you," said Rose.

"It seems to, it seems that I have to get involved every time one of your brilliant plans backfires." He paused. "As for saving the universe, I seem to remember the woman doing that was older than you and ginger and named Donna."

"Don't drag her into this," said Rose. "You've got it wrong."

"Right. I'm going home," said John.

"John," said Pete.

"She wouldn't listen the first one hundred times, why should she now?," said John as he walked out of the lab.

* * *

><p>"Mummy!," shouted Josh.<p>

Donna rolled her eyes as she stood at the mirror. It was Saturday morning, she was trying to decide on an outfit for John's cricket match. She couldn't decide if she should go for sexy sundress or would that be too much? She was leaning towards the idea of jeans and a tee, but wanted to look nice.

Josh entered. He was eight, or eight and a half as he was quick to remind everyone. He was average height, with brown hair with a ginger patch in there somewhere and Donna's green eyes. He looked intently at his new Superman watch.

"What is it, sweetheart?," asked Donna, tossing another pile of clothes back on her bed.

"What time is Daddy getting here?"

"I told you-" Donna looked at her own watch. It was now a half hour after Ethan was meant to come round to pick the twins up. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Where are you going?" He had an accusatory tone about it, but Donna had come to expect it. It was just recently that Josh and Ella had come to understand Mummy had to be at work in the day. The idea that Mummy might have a life outside work that didn't include them was just too much to imagine. She had been sneaking around them and seeing John while her ex had them or while they were on play dates and occasionally after they had gone to bed. She had managed to mention she had a new friend so that it wouldn't be a complete surprise should they actually meet. She just had no idea how to conduct an introduction.

"I told you. Mummy's meeting that new friend of hers. John?"

"Again?" Josh could smell a rat.

"He's in a cricket club and Mummy promised she would come watch him. Just like I do your football matches."

"Dad promised to take me to see Manchester United."

Donna fumed internally. Just like Ethan to make promises. "That's nice, sweetheart, but you know sometimes he gets busy and Mummy could take you to see West Ham play. I could get us really great seats right by the pitch."

"I like Manchester United, Mum! You know that!"

And Ethan had made a Manchester United fan out of her precious, first born son. She could ring his neck for that.

"Well, David Beckham's not been as good since he married Scary Spice, has he?," asked Donna.

"Mummy!" Ella entered. Ella was like a smaller version of Donna, except in dress sense. She had on her usual jeans, tee and pink trainers, with a tutu and tiara as accessories. Donna wasn't surprised by this, she let it go on the weekends because every weekday morning she and the nanny had to fight Ella to get her to take it off for school. "Where's Daddy?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I'm sure he's on his way. Would you like to help Mummy pick out an outfit?"

"I can go in your wardrobe?"

Donna nodded. She had to ban Ella from the wardrobe after finding one too many designer evening gowns on the floor and smeared with frosting or finger paint from an overenthusiastic session of dress up. "Just be careful."

Another half hour passed. Ethan was nowhere to be found, but Ella had finally helped Donna decide on jeans, a tank, cardi and a pair of sandals after Donna rejected a series of evening gowns and a white faux fur coat. The three sat on the front steps as Donna watched time tick by. Stupid Ethan. She would have to leave soon if she wanted to see John's match.

"He must be lost," reasoned Josh.

"Right," said Donna. She checked her watch again. It was tragic the way Josh always rationalized his father's absence. "Tell you what, why don't you two put your bags in the Land Rover and come with Mummy to the park?"

"But Daddy's picking us up here," protested Ella.

"Well, the park is closer to his house anyway, isn't it?," asked Donna. "You could watch part of John's match and Daddy could just meet us there."

"Yeah," said Josh, "it'll be easier for him to get to then."

"Right," said Donna. "Come on, you two."

John finished putting on the last of his gear as he looked up to see Gwen and Adeola waving at him. He grimaced and walked over.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We came to watch you play," said Adeola.

"And to meet your lady friend," said Gwen. "Is she here yet?"

"No, she's not and don't scare her off!" He shook his head. "And I'm the one without a life?"

"Oi! You just got a life a month ago!," said Gwen. "Has she seen your flat yet?"

"Gwen!," hissed Adeola.

"I didn't ask if they shagged, I was just wondering if she's seen his flat."

John looked up and saw a flash of ginger in the distance.

"She's coming," said John. "Be nice!"

"We'll be on our best behavior," said Adeola.

Donna approached and now John could clearly make out the two small figures trailing her.

"Are those her kids?," whispered Adeola. "Have you met her kids yet?"

John didn't have time to answer. Donna was soon in front of them, smiling, holding chairs and a hamper.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," said John. "Here, let me help you." He took the chairs and hamper from her and set it down in a nice patch by Gwen and Adeola.

"Well, this is Josh and Ella. Josh, Ella, this is Mummy's new friend she told you about, John Smith."

"Hi," said Josh.

"Hi," said Ella.

Donna looked over. "Are you two Gwen and Adeola?"

"Yes, yes, Gwen Cooper," said Gwen quickly shaking Donna's hand. "So nice to meet you."

"Adeola Oshodi. Really great to meet you. John's told us all about you."

"I can't imagine what he said." Donna grinned at John.

"We're not staying," said Josh. He looked up at John. "Our dad's coming to pick us up."

"That's right," said Donna. "He should be round any minute to meet us."

"John!," called the team captain.

"Well, I have to go. The match is starting. Nice to meet you Josh and Ella."

The match was over. Gwen and Adeola were with John, probably chatting about Donna under the guise of congratulating him. Donna had chatted them up most of the match unable to quite follow the game, except to tell that John was really good. Not to mention sexy in the uniform. Still no word from Ethan, not so much as a text or an answer to one of the fifty-seven calls Donna had made as she snuck away from the children. Josh was losing patience and Ella had fallen asleep on the picnic blanket.

"Did you tell Dad where we are?," asked Josh.

"I did, Josh." She paused. "We could go for a pizza after this."

"Dad always takes us for pizza."

Of course he did. Ethan always did the fun things, leaving Donna with making sure they did their homework and ate their vegetables and went to bed on time. Generally, all the things that actual parents did.

Donna looked up just as John was walking over.

"Well done," said Donna.

"Thank you," said John. He looked at Josh. "Decided to stay, did you?"

"My dad will be here any minute."

John nodded. "Right." He motioned at Ella. "I see she must have found it riveting."

Donna shrugged. "Not a big sport enthusiast, I'm afraid."

John smiled. "Well, shall we wait here or would you like to get something to eat?"

"Mum, Dad will come here," whined Josh.

"There's a fun center just over the road from the park," said John. "They have an arcade and racing cars. Your dad could always meet us there."

"There, wouldn't that be nice?," asked Donna.

They roused Ella and piled back into the Land Rover. They settled into the fun center and John sent Josh and Ella off with a few notes for tokens despite Donna's protestations. John went to join Ella in a game where she was trying to win a gaudy ring by hitting a light at the correct moment. John seemed to be very good at it, he had won six so far and Ella wanted one for each finger. Donna went to check on Josh who had found a driving game. He didn't want to talk, insisting to his mother that his dad was coming. Once again, Donna snuck off to ring Ethan on her mobile.

"Ethan, Donna. Remember me? You ruined my twenties and the entire marriage would have been a waste if not for my two gorgeous children? Oh, right, the children. They've been waiting for you for around eight hours now and should you have any interest in collecting them we're at the Funscape. Of course you don't, you're probably too busy spending your maintenance!" Donna hissed as she hung up the mobile. She looked up to see John.

"So... right..."

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm really not a psychotic bint, Ethan just..." She shook her head. "This was nice of you to suggest. You didn't have to."

"I thought we were spending the day together," said John.

"Well, I have to stay with them now. Ethan is missing in action, I've given Lisette the weekend off and my mum has to be notified with weeks of notice before she'll land the zeppelin-"

"Your mother lives in a zeppelin?," asked John.

"Don't sound so cheerful, I'll think you've met her," Donna quipped. "So, I'm afraid it's another evening of overcompensating for their deadbeat father for me."

"I could come."

"Sorry, you want to spend the day with my children?"

"And you. I mean, I could, if you want." He paused. "You're a package deal, aren't you?"

Donna shook her head. "John, you don't have to-"

"I love you."

"What?"

John shifted uncomfortably. "Not quite the reaction I wanted, but I can live with it."

"No, I love you," said Donna. She couldn't believe she had said that. She laughed, then quickly covered her mouth. "I just thought it was way too soon to say anything. I never thought..." She grabbed him and kissed him.

John broke it off. "That was... I used to be able to do that longer without breathing."

"Yeah..." said Donna, not quite thinking about what he had said. She smiled. "So, shall we go play skee ball?"


	3. Drifting and Landing

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna or Rose. If I did, oh, Journey's End would have been an entirely different episode but I think I've already shown that.

Thanks for the reads and the reviews. I am glad you all enjoy my take on this, can't wait to hear what you all have to say about this one and enjoy!

* * *

><p>John Smith didn't sleep at all on the ferry that night. He thought about Jackie's instructions, her insistence that Rose had to know the truth.<p>

If Donna were here, she would have said the same thing. She probably was a little distracted by the fact that her head was about to blow up and she still had to tell her husband she was pregnant.

It was the first time that John did the math on the universe he left behind. Twenty-eight hours in Pete's World? The Doctor had probably wiped her memory by now and he was most likely explaining to Sylvia and Wilfred what had transpired.

It occurred to John Smith how much he didn't want to do that.

So, they were both in places they didn't want to be telling people things they weren't going to like hearing.

With a lot of trepidation, he knocked on the door of Rose's cabin. She opened it and he was greeted by the words every man wants to hear.

"Oh, it's you."

He was really starting to not like her and it had just been a month. He asked her to come for a walk on the deck.

"Rose, the Doctor's not coming back."

"We'll see."

"The walls between dimensions are closing. He can't, even if he wanted to."

"What do you mean even if he wanted to? Of course he wants to. He loves me." She shook her head. "Even you said so."

"You asked what he was going to tell you. You didn't ask if he would tell you yesterday."

"You would say that. You're just jealous of him."

Which was true. Right about then John wished he was sitting in Sylvia Noble's sitting room. The slaps the Doctor was no doubt receiving had to be better than this. So long as she didn't bring the axe out.

Rose turned to face the see. She gripped the railing. John turned to look out, unwilling to make eye contact.

"He met someone and he loves her and he is going to have a life with her."

"No," said Rose. "Not possible."

"It sort of snuck up on him. She makes him happy, happier than he's been in years."

"No!," said Rose as she turned to face John. "She was just there, that's all. Probably some sex pollen or something. I can forgive that."

"Forgive that?," John spat, temporarily forgetting to rail at her about the sex pollen comment. What had she been reading in this universe? "He doesn't want your forgiveness, Rose, he hasn't done anything wrong!"

"I don't care if she's the Most Important Woman in the Universe! I don't care if they got married! I don't care if she's pregnant! He loves me!"

The wind blew brusquely against John's face. "You knew she was pregnant? And you didn't think to mention it to him! The man you supposedly love?"

"He's not like that, he doesn't get married, he doesn't have children!"

"Not with you," John snapped.

"Take that back."

"No. What are you? Twelve?"

John wasn't paying attention to the fact that the deck was unstable as they went over some choppy water and he wasn't holding on to anything and that Rose had pushed him.

And he was about to go in the sea.

And it was going to be cold.

He hit the water and started paddling. At least his reflexes still had some Time Lord speed to them. He looked back up at Rose who had a shocked expression on her face and was covering her mouth. He tried to shout something about maybe calling for help but either she couldn't hear him or was in too much shock to move. One of the other passengers who had walked by threw a life preserver to him and the boat soon stopped.

He waited, treading water in the sea, alone as he waited for the crew to get out here and rescue him. Alone and adrift...

He would rather be at Sylvia Noble's even if she brought the axe out.

It would be warm there.

* * *

><p>It had been three months since Rose Tyler's suspension from Torchwood and she was still sitting on her mother's sofa and she showed no signs of moving.<p>

Pete's suspension had been followed by an evaluation by committee, most of whom were not friends of Rose. She might have been able to find the Doctor using the Dimension Cannon, but she had stepped on a lot of toes while doing it and Torchwood was just like any other office with plenty of office politics. Rose had started too young at Torchwood with a chip on her shoulder from her travels with the Doctor and had never quite developed an appreciation for the importance of observing office politics. She never gave money when it was time to buy someone flowers or a birthday gift, blew off Secret Santa and generally ticked people off. She wasn't there to make friends, she was there to find a way back to the Doctor. Not to mention everyone knew how she treated Mickey and later John, who were both well liked.

Despite the fact that the committee didn't really like her, they had requested a psychiatric evaluation to aid in making heir decision. Rose didn't fail, but she certainly didn't pass. Rose's obsession with the Doctor made her a liability and the committee thought it was just as well she stay away from things that could punch a hole in the universe until she was over it.

Which left Rose with nothing to do.

Jackie came into the sitting room.

"Rose, have you decided what you're wearing tonight?"

Rose didn't take her eyes off the telly. It was a WestEnders marathon on the Noble Soap Network. It was like EastEnders, only they lived on the West. Rose had never really been one for soaps, but what else was she doing? "Wearing? To what?"

"The school Christmas program. Your brother is counting on you to be there."

"The Christmas program is tonight? Christmas isn't for ages."

"Oh? Is that a fact?," asked Jackie as she motioned at the Christmas tree in the corner of the sitting room.

Rose shrugged. "I don't want to go."

Jackie's eyes got huge. "You don't want to go?"

Rose shook her head. "I'll stay here."

Jackie threw up her hands. "Fine, you're a big girl. I'm not dragging you to your brother's play kicking and screaming. You're not going to sit here on my sofa for the rest of your life, let me tell you that now."

"Okay, Mum."

Jackie left and Rose went back to the telly.

* * *

><p>Donna smelled something.<p>

She ran downstairs and into the kitchen which she was certain was about to catch fire.

Instead, she found John pulling a tray of biscuits out of the oven.

"You're... baking."

"Yeah, banana chocolate biscuits."

"You can bake?"

"I got a recipe off the Internet and followed the directions. I thought the children might want treats after the play."

"You made biscuits," said Donna.

John nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, now you're not just making Ethan look bad, you're making me look bad." Donna shook her head. "I have never made them biscuits. My God, even my mum made me biscuits. They're eight and I've never made them biscuits. I just buy them."

"I'm sure you buy very nice biscuits."

"Mummy!," Ella shouted from the hall and ran into the kitchen. She was holding bobby pins and a can of hair glitter. "I need my hair done!"

Donna looked at the bobby pins in confusion. "What am I supposed to do with those?"

"Mummy! It has to be in a bun! Lisette forgot to before she left!"

"Well, maybe one of the other mummies can help us when we get to school."

"Mummy..."

"Here," said John, taking off the oven mitts. He took the bobby pins from Donna and went to work on Ella's hair. Donna watched in amazement as he twisted and set Ella's hair into a perfect ginger bun. He then took the hair glitter and covered Ella's eyes with his hand as he sprayed with the other.

"Thank you, John," said Ella.

"Go have a look at yourself in the mirror and make sure it's alright."

Ella ran off. John looked up at Donna who was still staring at him in amazement.

"That does it, I'm sending you to the next Mothers' Tea."

"I'm good with Ella," admitted John. "Still working on Josh."

Donna snorted. "I'm still working on Josh."

"Is Ethan coming tonight?," asked John. It had been a few months, but he still had yet to encounter the man in the flesh, though apparently he had picked up the children for the only one of his visitation weekends he had managed to make in that time.

Donna sat at the table. "Doubt it. He told Josh he would, but he always says he'll come. Maybe he'll save it all up for the holiday. He usually likes to make a big showing at Christmas." She shook her head. "No, I'm glad he'll do it. He's their dad, I just wish he could spread it out across the year."

* * *

><p>John had never been to a school Christmas program. It was fun. The children sang songs, dressed as ridiculous animals that were nowhere near the birth of Jesus- which he knew since the Doctor had been there, well maybe there had been a dolphin there in this universe, but it seemed very unlikely- and the dads competed to see who could take the best pictures. He had run into Pete as he snuck down front to get a picture of Tony as the Reception children sang carols. He thought for a minute that Rose might be there and all hell might break loose, but since the auditorium remained silent, he figured he was safe.<p>

The Year Three nativity play seemed brilliant, even if Ella's take on the angel was a little dramatic and probably more dancing involved than actually occurred. Josh was sort of a ham himself, probably trying to show off to his dad, who still hadn't shown. Every time John glanced at Donna, she was checking her watch and had a look of foreboding on her face.

John heard the door slam towards the end of the Year Four performance. He turned his head back to see a man coming in with an extremely tall thin woman.

They waited until the end of the program and John went out to the front hall with Donna to await Josh and Ella.

"Ethan," said Donna, not hiding her surprise. "You've actually turned up."

Ethan had been the man with the tall woman who John could now see was practically anorexic. Ethan himself was slick, too slick, John thought. He was wearing a suit with no tie and too many buttons undone on his shirt. He grinned at Donna and John couldn't help but think he had been drinking.

"Why shouldn't I turn up?," asked Ethan.

"Oh, I don't know. Historical precedent?" Donna looked up at the tall woman. "Who is this then?"

"Petra."

"Hello, Petra," said Donna.

"She doesn't speak English," said Ethan. "She's Russian."

"Oh!," said John. Donna then watched in amazement as John chatted with Petra for a good three minutes in Russian.

"Sorry, who are you, mate?," Ethan asked, obviously unnerved.

"This is John, my boyfriend," said Donna.

"Boyfriend?" Ethan sounded as if he thought this was impossible.

"I'm sure I mentioned it," said Donna.

Before they could continue, Josh and Ella were running up to Ethan.

"Dad, did you see me?," asked Josh.

"Did you like the dance?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was great."

Donna fumed as John watched. Ethan hadn't been there, the year threes were finished before Ethan and Petra ever arrived. Donna wasn't about to tell her children that, though. She let Ethan play at being a dad, saying how great they had been.

"Dad, where are you taking us for Christmas?," asked Josh.

Ethan looked as if he had never heard of Christmas before. "No, I have to work this Christmas."

"But you always take us for Christmas," said Josh.

John watched Ella's face sink. Her resolve was apparently much less than Josh's.

"I know, son, but I have to go out of town with Petra to Majorca."

"We could go to Majorca!," said Josh. "We would behave and be no trouble and we could help you!"

"No, I'm sorry, but I promised Petra."

John felt something on his hand. He looked down to see Ella holding his hand. It felt nice.

"But Dad!," Josh whined, utilizing the last refuge of the child: whining.

"No arguments! That's just how it is!"

"Outside. Now," said Donna.

Donna grabbed Ethan by the wrist and dragged him out of the hall and into the cold.

"Blimey, Donna, you couldn't let me get my coat?"

"I hope you freeze to death."

Ethan straightened up. "Nice thing to say about the father of your children..."

"Are you the father of my children? Because you haven't seen them in months!"

"I've been busy. We've chatted on the phone."

"Yes, I've seen those calls, they pour their little hearts out to you and you barely say anything and then you have to go."

"Good God, Donna, you're worse than Lumic. Besides, can't imagine you've been mother of the year, probably had to put some time in with your new lover boy. Tell me, has he stolen from you yet?"

Donna slapped him. She couldn't believe it, she had never slapped anyone.

Yet somehow it felt right.

"Is that what you're going to do now, Donna? You're going to beat me? I'll have you on assault charges!"

"Oh, shut up. Don't you care what you do to them at all? You make promises and you break them and it rips up their hearts."

"I have a life, Donna. I have things to do."

"Fine," said Donna. "Fine, just stop lying to them. Stop saying you're coming to things, stop promising holidays, stop acting like you bloody care. Just stay away from them."

Donna ran back in the hall where John chatted with Petra as he helped Ella and Josh put their coats on over their costumes.

"Petra, Ethan's leaving," said Donna.

"Da?"

John translated, Petra said her farewells and was off.

"Dad's leaving?," asked Josh. "He doesn't want to take us anywhere?"

"No, sweethearts, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Ella.

"No!," Josh protested. "You're always saying he's not coming! You're trying to keep him away."

"No, sweetheart, I'm not, I'm really not."

"You just want us to like John instead!"

"No, sweetheart-"

"I like John," said Ella.

"I hate him!," Josh spat.

John nodded. At least he wasn't in the sea. "Okay."

Donna looked up. "No, John, it's not okay. Josh can't just say he hates you-"

"No, I'm fine with it. I like Josh, but if he doesn't like me, that's fine as well. Shall we go to the car? I have biscuits waiting at home."

Donna looked at John in shock. What on Earth was he thinking?

* * *

><p>Rose pulled into the car park as she faced a sea of cars leaving. She had finally dragged herself off the sofa for this stupid Christmas program and now she had missed it. That was just great. She decided to pull in just to turn her car around and that's when she saw...<p>

John. Putting a little girl in the back of a Land Rover, smiling at her, making a joke, He walked around to the passenger side of the car and that's when she spotted her.

Donna Noble. He was with Donna Noble. Or whatever this universe's version of her was. Whoever she was, they had both chosen her.

She dismissed that thought. No, they hadn't both chosen her. They couldn't have. Her Doctor could never be with anyone else.


	4. The Truth

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna or Rose. Thanks for the reviews and the reads, I'm so glad you're all enjoying it. Please enjoy and let me know what you think of this chapter.

* * *

><p>The Doctor had almost never been sick.<p>

Time Lords hardly ever got sick. John couldn't remember having been sick since the Doctor was a boy. He had made himself ill on cakes and custard in honor of the ceremony where his older brother had just chosen his name. He had been sick everywhere to his mother's dismay and his father had put him to bed and taken care of him, making him drink broth and water for days. He had been miserable, the whole situation of a sick Time Child was almost laughable, but that all seemed like a pleasant holiday compared to this.

He was in hospital, hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor and he had oxygen. He was wheezing, hacking and hadn't been able to move more than a few feet past his bedside for days.

Hypothermia. Pneumonia. Oh, if his dad could see him now, what would he say?

It was the strangest thing about being human: all the thoughts of home and family that the Doctor somehow managed to block out for centuries were suddenly at the forefront of John's mind. It was some effect of Donna's or just being human or maybe just lying alone in a hospital bed wondering where it all went wrong.

He finally realized what his dad would say. He would say the same thing about Rose Tyler that he had said during the turbulent month at the Academy where he had gotten involved with the Rani.

"Son, do not get involved with crazy."

* * *

><p>It was quite a surprise not to find Rose on the sofa at home when Jackie, Pete and Tony came in from the Christmas program. They put Tony to bed and then settled in by the telly while Jackie cleaned up the mess Rose had left.<p>

Then it was even more of a surprise when Rose stormed back in the sitting room and shouted, "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Then again, perhaps it wasn't.

"Tell you what?," asked Pete.

"He is with Donna now? What's he doing with her?"

Pete looked at Jackie.

"What do you care?," asked Jackie.

"He... he was supposed to be with me."

"Sorry, Rose, but I think that ship sailed when you pushed him off the ferry!," said Jackie.

"It's not as if you've been rushing off to declare your undying love to him," said Pete.

"Does she even know what he is?," asked Rose. "Bet that wouldn't make her happy."

"Leave it, Rose," Jackie said sternly. "Just because you didn't want him doesn't mean he deserves to be alone the rest of his life."

"The Doctor loves me." It was becoming less of a statement and more of an invocation.

"Maybe he did, but he thought you were gone forever and he found someone else," said Jackie. "If you really cared for him, you would be happy for him."

"Happy? I'm supposed to be happy."

"Fine," said Pete, "you don't have to be happy, but you do have to leave it alone. It's called growing up."

Rose stormed out of the room.

* * *

><p>John was tidying up in the kitchen. The banana chocolate biscuits had been a success. He was certain Josh had enjoyed them even as he tried to hide all signs of pleasure. Donna came in.<p>

"I'm confused," said Donna. "You told Josh it was okay to hate you?"

"Yeah," said John.

"You're acting as if it's obvious."

"It's simple. He needs to be angry at someone but if he's angry at his dad, he has to admit his father's a bastard but you need years of therapy before you can do that, so he yells at you, then he says he hates me, so I just let him." John shrugged.

"Thanks," said Donna. "You're really, really good with them. I can't believe you don't have any of your own."

John thought about the Donna he left behind and the ginger Time Baby that was probably just learning to sit up. And he thought about the Donna in front of him and what a charlatan he would be if he went around pretending to be better than Ethan when Donna still didn't know what he really was.

"Donna, I have to tell you the truth."

He looked up at her. She had this look of dread.

"Oh, God," she said.

He sat down next to her. "I don't know what you're going to say. I told you a while ago about Rose and the man she's in love with and his wife, remember?"

"Yeah..."

"That man was me."

"You have a wife?"

"No. Yes. Mostly no. Did you ever wonder how Rose came to work at Torchwood?"

"Yeah, but now I'm mostly wondering how you have a wife!"

"Rose travelled with an alien called the Doctor, that's who she was in love with."

"Now you're an alien?"

"I'm not the Doctor! Not quite, not anymore. See, the Doctor's a Time Lord-"

"Time Lord? Who made that up?"

John sighed. "It would go quicker if you didn't interrupt."

"As if that's happening."

"When they're about to die, Time Lords can regenerate and form a whole new body, become a different person. During the regeneration cycle they can heal themselves and grow a new limb. When the Doctor regenerated last, his hand was cut off and it sort of sat in a jar for a few years."

"How is this-"

"Donna, I came from the hand in the jar."

Donna shook her head. "You what?"

"He was about to regenerate again, but he stopped it by transferring the excess energy to the hand, but that wasn't the end of it. See, his wife touched it, causing a metacrisis, giving me both human and Time Lord characteristics. And giving me their memories. So, I feel like I had a wife, but I really don't because she already had a husband."

"You said she was sick and she was pregnant."

"The other effect of the metacrisis was that she took on too many Time Lord characteristics herself and human beings just aren't built for that. Her mind might have burned. The plan was for the Doctor to wipe her memory and hope the child's own regenerative energy could heal the mother's brain. Two of us might have reminded her of the metacrisis- see, I look just like him- so I agreed to come back to this universe with Rose."

"But if you felt like you had a wife, you must have felt like you had a baby," said Donna.

"I did..." he admitted. "..and I had to leave her as well, for her own good, but she has two parents who love her. She should be fine."

Donna nodded. "That's definitely a new one, John. Is your name really John?"

"Might as well be."

"Your wife... what was her name?"

Oh, he really wanted to lie.

"Donna. Her name was Donna."

"Donna." She paused. "Wait, you said universe, you came to this universe, you don't mean...?"

"You're not the same. You're very similar, I'll grant you that, but you are definitely not the same."

"She's me? In another universe?" Donna snorted. "Does she have terrible taste in men as well?"

John didn't answer.

"Oh, God, she does." She shook her head. "John, why do you look so worried?"

"I'm waiting for you to slap me."

"I'm not going to slap you. I've never slapped anybody except Ethan tonight and that's just because he's a total bastard. You haven't done anything except be a hand in a jar."

"That is different."

"She... what's she like? Come on, it's not every day I get to hear about myself in a parallel world."

"She's brilliant and beautiful, like you. Only she never believed it, she worked as a temp until she met the Doctor."

"That's how I started out," said Donna. "Then one day I figured I was cleverer than the people I was working for and my friend had this idea for a virtual reality shopping channel and my granddad lent me the money to get it started, just on the Internet. My mum thought it was daft, she said no one could compete with Lumic, but it hung on and then Lumic was gone and it was all there for the taking."

"She never figured put how to be successful in the world. She beat herself up for it. She never knew it, but she was always meant for something else. See, she saved the universe, not just one, but all of them, the whole of Creation."

"Well, that's making my little multinational communications giant look pretty pitiful, isn't it?" She smiled. "So, I'm... John, you're the only decent man I've known, I would hate it if you were just attracted to me because-"

"No. Yes. I mean, that's what made me want to get to know you, yes, but you're so different. I love you for you."

John and Donna sat in silence.

"So, I should be leaving then," said John.

"What? Why are you leaving?"

"You were going to kick me out."

"When did I say that? Stay right where you are."

John froze in his seat.

"You're decent. You're gorgeous, you're great with my kids, you love me, you can bake, you are excellent in bed."

"What are you doing?"

"Weighing pros and cons. You have so many good qualities. I can see why you didn't open with this whole I came from a hand in a jar line..." She paused thoughtfully. "This part alien thing, if we wanted to have a baby, what would happen? We could? Would it be part Time whatever?"

"We... we could. I don't know why we couldn't. It would be part Time Lord, but frankly, Donna, I've lost so much of what makes a Time Lord a Time Lord, I don't see that a baby would have any problems."

"What do you mean you've lost what makes a Time Lord a Time Lord?"

"Imagine the Earth. Spinning, but it's like in school and they tell you the world's spinning, but you can't understand because it looks like everything is still, but I used to feel it. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour. The entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty seven thousand miles an hour. We're falling through space, clinging to the skin of this one tiny planet... and I used to be able to feel that. Or at least I can remember being able to feel it."

Donna reached out and held John's hand. "I'm sorry. That sounds... amazing."

"You're still not kicking me out," he said.

"No, John. God, do you want me to?"

"It's just usually what happens."

"Well, it's not happening tonight, not ever if I can help it." She leaned in. "In fact, I won't even make you go home tonight."

"You're serious?"

"No, just try to keep it down, I do have children," she smiled. "At least until I can get some soundproofing or something."

"Oi, I'm not exactly alone."

"Yeah, because it was me the upstairs neighbors were banging the floor about."

"And what were the downstairs neighbors banging their ceiling about then?"

"We've got to get you out of that flat," said Donna. "Come on, off to bed."

John took her hand and followed her upstairs with a goofy grin on his face that only a man in love could pull off.


	5. Terms of Engagement

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna or Rose. If I owned Rose, something would have been done... Sorry, what? Anyway, I am so glad everyone is enjoying this, thank you for the reads and reviews. I hope you all enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>John Smith's first new year was rubbish. Reduced from all of time and space to a one bedroom flat with no furniture and filled with thoughts of the Donna he had left behind.<p>

Still, he supposed it was better than being in a jar.

And at least he was finally out of hospital. Pete and Jackie had found the flat for him, furniture had slipped their minds, but John wasn't one to complain. He had spent Christmas alone and finally started his job at Torchwood. Job. He had never had a job, but he supposed he had to do something. So, he went to work, but he still wasn't feeling great. It had been a long recovery, from the effects of pneumonia and hypothermia and he tired easily, so he had refused the kind invitations of his new co-workers Gwen and Adeola to come along with them on their New Year's Eve pub crawl.

This New Year was different, though. He had a proper date, plans, a restaurant was involved and several posh parties, but he couldn't care less about that. He waited for midnight, as Big Ben struck in the new year and he snuck off with Donna to the roof of one of her friends' loft complex.

Then he asked her to marry him.

And she said yes.

* * *

><p>"John!," screamed Gwen.<p>

"Oh, my God!," Adeola shrieked.

Adeola and Gwen then proceeded to look at each other and scream at the highest pitch John had ever heard.

Then they jumped up and down.

"Miss Cooper, Miss Oshodi, what's going on over here?," asked Bernard. "This is hardly the sort of behavior we expect at Torchwood."

"Sorry," said Gwen.

"Sorry, sir," said Adeola, she couldn't help but grin, "but John's getting married!"

"Oh, by all means, jump up and down then," said Bernard, seeming quite jolly. "John, when did this happen?"

"Just over New Year, sir," said John.

"Congratulations, John. Well done! Quite a catch you have there."

"Tell us, how did you ask her?," Adeola begged.

"What's all this?"

A chill of dread went up John's spine. He turned to see Rose.

"Miss Tyler, I thought you were suspended," said Bernard.

"Yeah, I know. I have an appointment, I thought I'd drop by and see John."

"You mean you're on your way to see the Torchwood shrink?," asked Gwen.

"I'm getting married," said John.

"What?," asked Rose. "What do you mean you're getting married?"

"I think I'll just go count the weapons locker," said Gwen. "You know, take things out..."

Gwen walked away. Adeola and Bernard backed off.

"To her? To Donna Noble?" She clenched her fists in frustration. "What's so bloody special about Donna Noble?"

"She's joking, right?," asked Bernard.

"Sir..." said John.

"Right. I'm not listening at all. I'm just over here checking this plant," said Bernard.

"Rose, I-"

Gwen walked back over. "You know he doesn't have to explain himself to you, blondie."

"Gwen..." said John.

He looked at Gwen only to realize that the entire department was staring at he and Rose. Bernard surveyed the situation.

"You know what?," said Bernard. "I know it's only ten in the morning, but why don't we all go for an early lunch? Or take a walk in the park? Call it a team building exercise."

"It's raining," said Gwen.

"That's why it's a team building exercise. Coats and umbrellas everyone!"

The entire department left and as they shuffled out Rose stared at John, boring holes into him.

"I saw you at the school," said Rose. "Is that it? You want a family so you just worm your way into hers? Think that's alright, do you?"

"That's not what it's like, Rose," he said, shaking his head.

"Listen, why do you care? You don't love me."

"I..."

"You love the Doctor and he's in another dimension and he doesn't love you."

She shook her head. "No, I don't believe that."

"Believe it. Believe it, Rose and move on. You have too much potential to be wasting your life like this. You could go back to school, you could travel, you could I don't know, get a hobby, just stop wasting your time on something that's never going to happen."

"Does she know what you are?"

"This isn't about her, Rose. This is about you."

Rose shook with fury. "You. You're nothing. You're just some freak accident."

She stalked out.

"You're well rid of that mad little bint."

John turned to see Gwen coming out of Bernard's office, carrying a golf club.

"Gwen, what are you doing?"

"What?," she asked waving the nine iron. "You didn't expect me to actually leave you alone undefended, did you?"

* * *

><p>Donna laid in bed next to John, happily taking turns between gazing at his stubble-covered face and the engagement ring he had bought her. She thought it was stunning, she didn't care if it was an emerald, it was antique and John said it reminded him of her eyes. Maybe not as big as the one Ethan had given her, but she had sold that one and gone on a shoe buying binge with the proceeds. Her mum had said to give it to Ella but Donna didn't see why Ella should have to travel through life with the last remnant of a marriage that was doomed from the start. Besides, she'd bought Ella a dolls' house with part of it and she seemed to appreciate that.<p>

She would have to tell them.

She had already told Ethan, who she hadn't seen since the Christmas program. She had texted, which she felt badly about until she got the response of "k" a day later. Josh and Ella, though, that was an entirely different matter.

He had been around. John hardly spent any time at his flat anymore. Josh and Ella didn't seem to question why Mummy's friend was spending the night, she wasn't sure if it's because they thought they were just having a sleep over or if God knows what had been going on at Ethan's house on the rare occasion they actually made it there.

Ella was easy. She loved John, he had won her over doing the thousand small things Ethan had just bloody failed to do. Not just the big things like the zoo, but Ethan would never be caught dead putting her hair in a French braid, even if he could pull it off. He had pulled off the bun again and before every ballet class.

Josh still purported to hate John, even though Donna suspected he was just putting it on. John had accompanied him to a football game where a friend had invited all his friends and their dads to a corporate box for a boys only, no girls allowed ever birthday party. Poor Josh had tried to get Ethan on the phone and Donna had even had Ianto try, only to track him down in Fiji, where he insisted he wouldn't be back in time for the party. Donna had volunteered to go, but Josh said they couldn't have a girl there, even if it was just a mum. John had finally thrown his name in the ring and Donna could see Josh relenting. It was so clear he didn't want to be the only one there without someone. He finally agreed to go with John but it was "just to keep the numbers even." Then John had helped him with his science project and his maths homework. Donna tried to prod Josh about it, but he insisted it was just for school.

She had a plan. Saturday morning, first thing, they would have a lovely breakfast, she would let them watch cartoons and then they would break it to them about the engagement. Then bribe them with lunch and toys.

Maybe a puppy, but she wanted to save the puppy if she needed it when she got pregnant.

Donna went downstairs with her best placid mum face on.

"Good morning, children," said Donna.

Ella and Josh looked up from their breakfast, eyeing their mum suspiciously. For that matter, John looked at her like she was barmy.

"I've made breakfast," said John, putting a plate down at her place at the breakfast table. "Why don't you eat?"

"Aren't you eating, John?," asked Ella.

"I will, Ella."

The doorbell rang.

"Who's that?," hissed Donna. Doorbell was so not in the plan.

"I'll see, you just... stay there," said John.

John would have been less surprised if he had seen a Dalek when he answered the front door than he was seeing Ethan there.

At least Daleks were consistent.

"Oh, hello, John, wasn't it?"

"Hello, Ethan."

"I'm just here to pick up the kids."

"Are you now?"

Ethan walked in without further invitation.

"Suppose you're staying here all the time now," said Ethan. "Got to make the most of that honeymoon shagging phase, let me tell you, because it dries up."

Yes, he would have rather seen a Dalek.

"Especially with Donna. It becomes all work-work, kids-kids."

A Dalek and Ethan. That would be good. All he would have to do is shut the door.

"Ethan, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't speak about Donna in that manner."

"Ooh, or what? You'll get angry?," he said smiling.

"Dad!" Josh came running from the kitchen, followed by Ella and then finally, Donna, looking as if she'd seen a ghost. She might as well have.

"Ethan, what are you doing here?," asked Donna.

"What? Isn't it my weekend?"

"No, it's not. And even if it was, you never come to yours."

"Mum, can't we go?," asked Josh.

"Yeah, Donna, just switch with me," said Ethan, "you see them all the time."

"We have plans, Ethan," said Donna.

"John's taking us to the zoo," said Ella.

"Zoo? Why would you want to go to the zoo? That's sort of dull, isn't it?," said Ethan. "Besides, he'll be around all the time once you're married."

Donna's face turned red.

She wanted to throttle him.

"Married?," Ella asked quietly.

"What do you mean married?," spat Josh.

"Thank you, Ethan. Thank you so much," said Donna. "This really is the pinnacle of your fatherhood, isn't it?"

"How was I to know you hadn't told them? Sounds like some pretty bad mothering to me."

"Okay, kids, why don't we go upstairs and you can get ready to go out?," said John.

John pushed Ella softly on the shoulder. He tried to take Josh, but Josh ran upstairs before he could catch up.

"Bad mothering?," asked Donna. "You have the nerve to come in here and criticize my parenting?"

"You criticize mine all the time."

"Yes! Because it's horrid, you narcissist!"

"You know, I talked to my solicitor about that slap of yours and she said if I could demonstrate that you had an unsafe environment, I could have full custody of Josh and Ella."

"Don't you dare," said Donna, "you do not dare walk in this house and threaten to take my children from me."

"Fine, sorry I offended you. Thought you might want some time alone with your boy toy there."

Donna took a deep breath. "I'm getting coffee. I can't begin to speak with you without coffee." Donna turned and started walking towards the kitchen.

"Two sugars in mine, thanks."

Donna continued to the kitchen, resisting the urge to kill him and hide the body.

* * *

><p>Ella's room was a sea of pink. It had been almost disconcerrting the first time she dragged John in to play tea party. Pink walls, pink carpet, pink dressing table, pink tented canopy bed, it took some time for his eyes to adjust. He helped Ella find her pink- surprise- suitcase that was still packed from the last failed weekend.<p>

"Are you marrying Mummy?"

"Yes," said John. "What do you think of that?"

She shrugged. "Mummy likes when you're around."

"I know, I like when I'm around, but what do you think?"

"I like when you're around," she said softly.

John smiled. "Do you want to know something, Ella?"

"Yeah..."

"I like when you're around."

Ella smiled and gave John a hug. He hugged back.

Then he heard something fall in Josh's room.

"Stay here. I'll be right back," said John.

John went in Josh's room. He hadn't been in at all before, Donna had just pointed out the door. Josh seemed insistent on all their dealings being conducted on neutral territory. In fact, Donna was only rarely allowed in and the nanny and cleaning lady seemed to be the only ones with freedom of movement. He observed that he must have been allowed the same free reign in decorating judging by the Manchester United duvet and the collection of posters. Right now, Josh had out his knapsack and what was every piece of luggage from the cupboard, loading the entire contents of his toy box into them.

"It looks like you may have packed a bit much for a weekend, Josh," he said finally.

"I'm leaving forever," said Josh. He walked to the window and took a telescope off its stand then put it back.

"You're not taking the telescope?"

"Dad says it's stupid."

"Why's that?"

"What do you care?"

"I like telescopes."

"You do?" Josh said brightly and then looked down again. He hadn't meant to show interest in John.

"I do. So, why does your dad say they're stupid?"

"I like space and...stuff," Josh said quietly. "I want to be an explorer, but Dad says it daft because Britain doesn't have a space program anymore and can't afford it after the Cybermen, Mexico's not sending up any more shuttles and the only ones doing anything are China and I can't go with them, so I might as well give the whole thing up."

"Well, your dad's wrong," said John. "It's not daft. I used to be like you, I'd look at the stars and think of new life, new worlds. Nothing can stop you from doing something if you really want to."

"You work at Torchwood, right? Do you work with aliens?"

John's eyes got big. Did he work with himself? "Well, yes, quite a bit actually."

"Cool."

Donna entered. "Okay-" she looked around. "Josh, what are you doing?"

"Uh..."

"He's just reorganizing, Donna."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Mum."

"Anyway, your dad is going to take you and Ella for the day if you like. You'll be back home for dinner and we can talk, okay?"

"Okay, Mum."

* * *

><p>Ianto Jones looked up from his desk to see a blonde.<p>

"May I help you?," he asked.

"Yeah, here to see Donna Noble."

Ianto humored her and looked on his tablet computer. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No."

"So, what? You thought you'd just pop by?"

"Yeah."

Ianto put down the tablet. "Okay, little girl, let me tell you how this works. This is the office of Donna Noble. Ms. Noble is the Chief Executive Officer and Chairwoman of the Board of the Noble Corporation, which owns the Noble Family of Networks and properties around the world along with a small hat factory. She is the most powerful person in media holdings in Europe, possibly the Earth. One cannot simply pop by and expect to be received. So, are you leaving or shall I ring up security?"

"My name is Rose Tyler. I need to tell her something about her fiance."

Ianto picked up the phone. "Ms. Noble, there's a Rose Tyler here. She says she has some information about your fiance." He paused. "One moment. I'll ask." Ianto put the phone on hold and looked at Rose. "What was it you need to tell her?"

"He's not who he says he is."

"You'll have to be more specific."

"I don't want to tell you everything!"

"Well, you're not getting in there without telling me."

Rose shook her head. "He's not a man, not a real man, he's a hand from a jar."

Ianto stared at her.

"Is this for like a prank show?"

"It's the truth. Tell her."

Ianto took the phone off hold. "Ms. Noble, she says he's not a real man, he was somehow formed from a hand in a jar." He paused. "I'll relay the message." He paused again. "I hit the alarm ages ago. Oh, lunch should be here in five minutes. They were out of the scallops so I ordered clams, I thought that would be alright." He paused again. "Yes, ma'am. You're welcome."

He hung up the phone and looked back up at Rose. "Ms. Noble appreciates your concern, but is fully aware of the jar metamorphosis situation and won't require your input."

"Is that what she really said?"

"No, she really said 'What does the psychotic bint want?' and 'Tell her to get the bloody hell out of my life if she knows what's good for her.' I tend to try to smooth things over for Ms. Noble." He looked behind her. "Oh, good. Take her picture and warn her. She's banned from the building. If she shows up again, you're to turn her over to the police."

Rose looked behind her to see two burly security guards.

"Have a nice day, Ms. Tyler."

* * *

><p>Rose walked out of the Noble building with two security guards staring at her as she started down the sidewalk.<p>

She was trying to decide if she should cry in the street when a woman stepped in front of her.

She was older. Dark brown hair, a black suit and an eyepatch.

"Hello, Rose Tyler."

"How do you know my name?"

"We've been watching you and we want to put you to work."

Rose straightened up and stiffened.

"I'm listening."


	6. Making Friends

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, Rose, etc. Thanks for the reads and reviews, glad everyone is enjoying it. Can't wait to hear from everyone about this chapter.

* * *

><p>Rose followed the woman to a nondescript building. Inside, she found a series of guards in black suits, all with eye patches. They didn't seem to move. Then Rose thought she saw something but as soon as she turned away she couldn't remember what it was. The woman directed her to a chair and sat down across from her another.<p>

"Rose Tyler, the Bad Wolf."

"Yeah, and you are?"

"Madame Kovarian of the Silence."

"The Silence? What's that then?"

"It's a calling, a purpose. Don't you miss that, Rose? Don't you miss having a purpose?"

Rose did. She felt like she was back where she started all those years ago before the Doctor when she was just a girl who worked at a shop. She missed the Doctor more, though.

"We're working on a device for interdimensional transport. Does that sound like something you might be interested in?"

"Where you going?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Back home, back to my universe," she said. She thought she had seen something again, but turned back to Kovarian and dismissed it, her breathing suddenly rushed.

"I think that could be arranged," said Kovarian.

* * *

><p>Funny thing about Pete's World.<p>

Nerys and Donna were actually friends. They actually liked each other. Donna had helped Nerys after the Cybermen killed her family and Nerys had helped Donna when Ethan turned out to be a bastard. John couldn't quite wrap his head around the concept and now that he was at a bridal salon with Donna, Nerys, Ella and Josh it wasn't getting any better.

Josh was walking around staring at his portable video game. Ella was entranced because everywhere she looked there were big, white dresses.

"Isn't it bad luck or something for me to be here?," asked John, suddenly wanting an out.

Donna and Nerys stopped in their tracks.

"What?"

"You know, that whole thing where the groom shouldn't see the bride in her dress before the wedding?"

Nerys shook her head. "I've never heard of that."

"No..." Donna said slowly.

"Okay, wrong universe then," said John.

"How many are you having?," asked Nerys.

"Small, just a hundred."

"Ooh! Mummy!," said Ella running at the first white dress she spotted on a mannequin. "Get this one!"

Donna smiled back at John. This was going to be happening a lot. "It's nice, sweetheart, but we should look at some more, don't you think?"

"Okay," said Ella.

"Ladies!," John heard someone shout. "Welcome! And gentlemen!"

John looked ahead of him at an impossible sight: Jack Harkness.

There was no way that in Pete's World Jack Harkness was a wedding dress consultant. Just not possible. He knew multiverse theory, anything should be possible, but that just seriously wasn't.

"Hi, Donna Noble."

"Yes, I talked to your assistant, Ianto. Sexy accent and who else do we have here?"

"Oh, this is my friend, Nerys."

"Hello, Nerys," said Jack, smiling.

Then again, matter can only be arranged in so many ways. Maybe he just looked like Jack and had the same name or he was just a very distant relative, a precursor to Jack Harkness of the 51st century.

"Josh and Ella and my fiance, John."

"Hello, John," Jack said with a wink.

Oh, yeah, it was definitely the same Jack Harkness.

"Beautiful couple, let's get started with some dresses, shall we, ladies?"

The women walked off with Jack and John got out his mobile.

"Hello, John," he heard Gwen say brightly, "aren't you meant to be shopping?"

"Yeah, I'm there, I need some help, though. Are you busy?"

"I think Donna can probably do without my help."

"It's not about the dresses, Gwen. There's someone here. Someone I know."

"From the other universe, you mean?"

"Yes, I do..."

"What do you need?"

"Back at my work table in the lab, I need the sonic screwdriver and the timey wimey detector."

"The sonic probe?"

"It's a screwdriver."

"Fine. Which one's the timey wimey detector?"

"The red one with the tape reel."

"Oh, the egg boiler?"

John sighed. "Just bring it."

John couldn't tell the difference between any of the dresses to save his life. A-line, ball gown, mermaid. He thought Donna looked gorgeous in all of them and said so, which only seemed to frustrate her more. He was a little preoccupied, though, making certain wedding dress consultant Jack Harkness didn't look too long at his fiancee. After about ten dresses, Gwen finally arrived while Donna was changing into the next gown.

"I have your screwdriver and your egg boiler," said Gwen. "Who are we looking at?"

John motioned to Jack as he flirted with Nerys.

"Ooh, quite a dish that one, isn't he? How do you know him?"

"In the universe I came from, he's a rogue Time Agent the Doctor travelled with. Also, he'll have sex with anything that moves."

Gwen laughed.

"No, I'm serious. Really serious." He got in the carrier bag Gwen had the timey wimey detector in and pulled it out. He pointed it at Jack.

"What does it do?," asked Gwen.

It dinged.

"That," said John.

"So, that means that he's a time traveler?"

"Yes, he is."

"But what's he doing working in a bridal shop?"

"No idea, but I do know how we can get close enough to ask him."

* * *

><p>"Donna, may I borrow the car?"<p>

Donna looked up from her reports to see John standing in the doorway of the study. "You know, you don't have to ask like you're a teenager begging for the keys. We really ought to do something about your transportation."

"No, I'm fine, really, the bus just doesn't run that late out here on weekends and I have some work to do."

"That's what I'm saying," said Donna as she got into her bag for the keys, "what if there's some world saving emergency? Do we really want to have Torchwood wait for you to take two trains and a bus?"

"I'm fine as I am, Donna, really."

"I want to get you a car. Please?"

"I have to go," John said, kissing her. "Sorry."

John started leaving.

"Are you going to worry about me? Leaving me all alone on a Saturday night?," Donna called after him in her most lusty tone.

John turned around and grinned at her. "Of course I am."

* * *

><p>Jack Harkness looked up at the brunette who had slid in next to him at the pub.<p>

"Hi," he said.

"Hello."

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Gwen rolled her eyes. "I bet you use that line on all the girls."

"And the boys."

"Fine, then, I'll have a beer."

"Straightforward. I like it." He turned to the bartender. "Two pints, please."

"American, are you? What are you doing in London?"

"Work. Welsh, aren't you? Bigger question is, what are you doing in London?"

Gwen shrugged. "Cybermen. They killed my boyfriend and my parents. There was nothing left for me back home."

Jack handed Gwen her pint. "I know the feeling."

"Thought the invasion wasn't as bad in America..."

"So, what's your name?"

"Gwen. You?"

"Jack." He grinned. "So, Gwen, what do you do?"

"I work for Torchwood."

"Torchwood? What's that?"

"Matter of fact, she works with me."

Jack looked back to see John. "Mr. Smith. What a coincidence."

"Captain Harkness."

Gwen put a taser in Jack's back. He looked at her. "Don't tease me with that thing unless you're going to use it." He looked at John. "Hate to disappoint you, but it's Commander."

John shrugged. "That's alright. I was guessing anyway. Now, tell me, what are you doing here?"

Before Jack knew it, Gwen had handcuffs on him.

"Can't you wait until where somewhere more private? And you're wearing leather?" He looked at John. "You too."

"Let's get him back to Torchwood."

* * *

><p>An hour later, Jack was sitting in an interrogation room at Torchwood.<p>

"Okay, Commander Harkness," John began again, "what does the Time Agency want with Earth?"

"I think you mean the Time Bureau."

"I was just guessing anyway."

"Your guesses are really close, though. How are you doing that?" He asked as if he already knew the answer.

"I'm asking the questions."

"Could we get Gwen back? I liked her."

"You like everyone."

"You know a lot about me, don't you? Too bad I don't know that much about you. We should get to know each other better."

"See, I think you do know something about me. "

Jack shook his head. "I know your name is John Smith and you're marrying a very sexy woman."

John sat back in his chair. "See, I can be here all night."

"Really? I'd be at home if I were you, Doctor."

John eyed him critically. "What do you mean, Doctor?"

"Enough with the games already. I get it, Doctor. You're undercover. Does the Oracle know you've gone native?"

"I'm not the Doctor."

"Well, if you're not, you're his twin."

John nodded. "Yeah, that's about right."

"You're serious?"

"Are you serious about Time Lords in this dimension? There are still Time Lords?"

Jack nodded to himself, a sudden moment of understanding. "That's it, you're from another universe! I scanned you and thought it was just a perception filter saying you had only one heart and I was just meeting you out of order, but, you're someone entirely different, aren't you?"

"Hold on, there's a Time Lord called the Doctor in this universe?"

"Yeah, I know him. We've fought beside each other. I thought you were him, looking for the same thing I was looking for."

"And what are you looking for?"

Jack smiled. "Well, that I've got to show you."

* * *

><p>Another hour passed. Gwen, Bernard and Pete Tyler had joined them in another conference room. Jack showed a projection from his Vortex Manipulator.<p>

"A Time Cube."

"Time Cube?," asked John, looking at the projection of a glass cube. Suddenly, the Time Vortex appeared inside it.

"It's a research tool, the way the scientists at the Time Bureau can study the Vortex without actually having to go inside of it. Like the Large Hadron Collider, only instead of a big thing in Switzerland, it's a little cube. One was stolen."

"One?" John frowned. "How many do you have?"

"A dozen more."

"But they only took one?," asked Pete.

"Just one."

"What makes you think it's here?," asked Gwen.

"I met a woman in a bar."

John shook his head. "Of course you did."

"I can't remember her she drugged me. All I remember is that she said her name was Mildred and my scanner carbon dated her to this era."

Pete leaned in to John. "Do you think it could be Mildred?"

"Maybe, no telling where the Balvaran Portal left her," mused John.

"I don't think her name was Mildred," said Jack.

"What makes you say that?," asked Bernard.

"Because when I took her back to my place, she didn't act like a Mildred. I do remember that much."

"Okay, too much information," said John. "Let me guess, she took your-"

"Keycard," finished Jack.

"So, you're on the hook then?," asked Gwen.

"Gwen, I am anywhere you want me to be."

"Why would anyone steal a piece of the Vortex?," asked John. "The vortex isn't harmful, it doesn't do anything. You can't use it as a weapon and you couldn't travel with this cube?"

"No, you can't, but you're wrong about the Vortex. It can transform life at the cellular level. You told me once that your people evolved thanks to the Untempered Schism."

"That was billions of years, though. You couldn't do anything."

"Yeah, that's a nice theory, but in reality, no."

"What does it do exactly?," asked Bernard.

"At the cellular level? Makes Time Babies. You know, if you have sex inside it."

"Found that out the hard way, did you?," asked Gwen.

"No, his doppelganger did," said Jack, nodding his head at John. "You ought to give people some rules when you pick them up in your time machine. This thing could alter the course of human evolution, I have to find it."

"You're not going anywhere, you're staying at Torchwood, as our guest," said Pete.

"Oh, can't I stay with Gwen?," Jack whined.

"I'll see to it, sir," Gwen said getting up.

Gwen, Bernard and Pete left.

"Why were you at the bridal shop?," asked John.

"Fine," Jack smiled. "I saw you and Donna in a magazine. She was easy enough to track down so I got myself a job. Didn't mean to stalk you, I thought you were the Doctor and I figured he could help."

"How do you know him?"

"We fought together, but I haven't seen him in years. Went home, not travelling any time soon. The Time Lords are all in seclusion, safe on Gallifrey."

"In seclusion? Why?"

"Well, because of the war."

"With the Daleks?," John frowned.

"No, what's a Dalek?"

"Never mind."

"They're at war with the Silence."

"What's the Silence?"

"The hell if I know."


	7. Clocks

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, Rose, anything. Sort of a short chapter, but more is coming soon. Thanks for the reviews and the reads, I'm so glad there's so much enthusiasm for Duplicate Doctor/Alternate Donna. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

><p>Jackie Tyler had not heard from Rose in a month. The last thing she had heard was from Pete. Donna Noble had given Pete a polite warning about Rose showing up unexpectedly at her office. She had been all politeness, but anyone could tell the whole situation had her bloody angry. Not that Jackie could blame her, no one wanted their fiance's ex-girlfriend butting in to their life. She and Pete had waited up for Rose that evening, but she never arrived. She didn't answer her mobile and all they got was an email the next morning saying she had to "figure some things out" and "not to worry." Not worry? How could she not worry? Though after the month went by quietly without reports of Rose's death, incarceration or sectioning, Jackie wondered if her daughter was actually making good.<p>

One day, she went to answer the door and found Rose there.

It took Jackie a moment to come to that realization. This Rose was so different. For starters, her hair was a dark brown- Jackie was just glad it wasn't red, that certainly would have been a sign of further obsession. She was dressed in black from head to toe and she was smiling as if nothing had happened.

"Where have you been?," shrieked Jackie.

"You told me to get a life, I got a life."

"You disappeared!"

"Thought you'd be used to it by now," Rose said playfully.

Rose walked into the house as if she had just popped off to the shops. Jackie just watched in dismay.

"Where did you get off to?," she asked. "You've been gone a month!"

Rose shrugged. "I got a job."

"A job? What sort of job?" Jackie was incredulous, what could Rose have gotten a job at?

"A shop."

"What shop?"

"What's with the interrogation, Mum? I just sort of popped in to say hello."

"You disappear for a month, come back, your hair is dyed, you're wearing a suit, all you can say is you have a job at a shop and I'm interrogating you?"

"I'm going to go to the toilet," said Rose.

"Oh, by all means, help yourself!," Jackie called after her as she made her way upstairs. "Make yourself right at home!"

Rose made her way to Pete's study and got behind his desk. She put a flash drive on the secure laptop that he occasionally worked at home from and watched as the data started downloading.

* * *

><p>Donna looked around the room at the fertility clinic thinking she was entirely too old to be here. She wondered when that had happened. She had seen a special on one of her networks about a woman who had a baby at seventy, Donna wasn't that old, nor would she want to have a baby at seventy. She wasn't suicidal.<p>

She and Ianto had been waiting hours, while she got some work done. This clinic had the best reputation in Europe and she had put in for an appointment as soon as she and John agreed to have a baby. Even with all her influence, she had to wait and really, this call for an appointment had been out of the blue. All of a sudden they had an opening, not that Donna wanted to look a gift horse in the mouth, she was... over forty. Her biological clock was pounding in her head and she wanted to get going.

Ianto looked at his watch. "We'll have to postpone the conference call with the New German division."

Donna nodded. "Right."

"Ms. Noble?"

Donna and Ianto looked up to see an older woman with dark hair, a black suit, a lab coat and an eye patch.

"Yes?," said Donna.

"I'll see you in exam room two."

"Right. Just one moment."

The doctor left. Donna got up and started gathering her things.

"S&M pirate fetish. Interesting look for a physician," whispered Ianto.

Donna tried to stifle a giggle. "Don't! That's unkind."

"I'll reschedule the conference call," said Ianto.

"Right. Wish me luck."

Donna walked into the exam room.

"Doctor Jones," the woman introduced herself.

"Donna Noble."

"I knew that."

"Right. Sorry."

"So, you want to have a baby..."

Donna stiffened. The woman's tone was almost lyrical, as if this was amusing.

"Have you been trying long?," she asked.

"No," said Donna, "my fiance and I, we just stopped using birth control, I just want to make sure everything's in order."

"You're right to be concerned at your age..." The doctor looked up. "So, normal cycles?"

"I suppose," said Donna.

"Your fiance. Any problems there?"

"He's fine," said Donna.

"We may need to run some tests, you might have to be under anesthetic..."

"Is that really necessary?," asked Donna. She glanced up and thought she saw something, then looked back at the doctor with no idea why her breathing was so rapid.

"We really shouldn't take any chances..."

"I'd really rather not get so serious right away," said Donna. "I just wanted a consultation."

"Yes, well, change into a gown and we'll see how things are down there..."

There was something about this eye patch lady that Donna found positively creepy. She really did not relish the idea of getting naked and letting her poke around down there. Ianto's words "S&M pirate fetish" kept ringing in her head.

"You know what?," said Donna standing up and collecting her bag. "I'm sorry. I have to go."

"But Ms. Noble, you really should stay-"

"I'll pay for the consultation. I really must be leaving. Thanks for your time."

Donna was in the hall before the doctor could catch up and already back in the waiting room.

"Problem?," asked Ianto.

"We are getting the hell out of here," muttered Donna. She went into her wallet and took out a few hundred pound notes and left them with the receptionist.

"This is too much-" she started.

"No problem, keep the change."

Donna was out the door. Ianto gathered the mobile office and rushed to catch up.

From the door to the waiting room, Kovarian watched. She turned back to the two Silents that had been in the exam room.

"Big mind on that one," she remarked, "in any dimension."

She paused while they spoke to her.

"Impermeable to all orders, we should have expected that," agreed Kovarian. "We'll have to do this the hard way, I suppose."

* * *

><p>Donna finally arrived home, hours late because of the conference call with New Germany. She hated missing Josh and Ella before they went to bed. She snuck in the house quietly and checked on them in their beds before continuing on to her own room where John was reading in bed.<p>

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said, giving him a kiss. She took off her heels. "I'm so sorry I'm this late. Were Josh and Ella very upset?"

John shook his head. "No, we had pizza. I don't think they cared about anything else."

"You'll spoil them." She sat on the edge of the bed and started working off her tights. "The conference call with New Germany went forever. I kept them waiting while I was at my appointment, Germans hate it when you keep them waiting."

"What appointment?," asked John.

Donna cringed. "I hadn't wanted to mention that."

"Mention what?"

"I know we said we would take our time on the baby issue, but I got worried and I made an appointment."

"Why wouldn't you tell me that?," asked John. "I could have gone with you."

Donna shook her head. "No, really, I didn't want you to worry."

"I don't want you to worry on your own," said John. He took a breath. "Did the doctor say anything?"

"Oh, no," said Donna, "we are not going back there. If we need it, I'll find someone else."

"Oh?"

"Something really creepy about that office and the consultant, I hate to sound awful, but she had an eye patch and it was really disturbing for some reason. I didn't want her looking up my vagina and she wanted to start doing tests and put me under anesthetic for them."

"Anesthetic?"

"I know," exclaimed Donna. She sat in front of John, motioning for him to unzip her dress.

He unzipped her dress and kissed the nape of her neck. "I wish you had told me."

"I'm sorry. I just hate admitting how bloody old I am."

"You are not old," he said.

"The other me," she turned to him, "you said she hadn't had any children until the Doctor?"

"No," said John.

"How old was she?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's too difficult..."

"Thirty-eight," John answered.

Donna nodded. "Thirty-eight, that's not too bad."

"You're not the same person, Donna-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, different universe, different lives but it's a fair bet we have the same reproductive organs."

"I suppose."

"God, if I actually get pregnant, I'll have to miss work." Donna shimmied out of her dress and laid down next to John. "Maternity leave, breast-feeding, not to mention two months of bed rest with Josh and Ella. Of course, my blood pressure just might have shot up because my husband at the time was an overgrown child who had to be constantly watched. You won't give me any problems like that."

"No," said John.

"No..." Donna confirmed.

"I could stay home if you like," he said.

"What?"

"After the baby's born, I could stay home with her for a while if you wanted to go back to work."

"Her?," Donna smiled.

"Or him," John added quickly.

Donna moved closer to John. "Well, that's a compelling offer. What about your work? What if they need you to save the planet?"

"Well, then I'll have to call you," John admitted.

Donna did a mock sigh. "I suppose I can tell New Germany to wait because my husband had to go save the Earth from some mad aliens..."

"Husband, I like the sound of that."

"One more month," said Donna, moving to straddle John, "don't know what we'll get up to until then..."

"No idea," said John.

She leaned in to snog him and his mobile rang.

"That's just not fair," said John.

Donna leaned over to the night table and handed him his mobile.

"Hello," John grunted.

"John, it's Pete Tyler."

"Hello, Pete."

"There's a problem with the President."

"What do you mean?"

"Just get down here, straightaway."

John hung up the mobile and looked at Donna.

"I have to go save the President."

Donna nodded. "I'll go work on the Pope."

"You are cheeky."

Donna returned to her side of the bed. "When you find out who did it, give them a special slap from me."

"Thought you didn't slap people."

"Well, my patience is being tested tonight," Donna smiled.

John got up. "We'll pick this up again."

"Oh, you just wait," said Donna pulling the covers over herself.


	8. The Mind of Harriet Jones

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. None of it. If I did, that would be good. Hope you like this chapter, so read on and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>John hurried down to Torchwood and found Pete, Gwen and Adeola in the clinic.<p>

"John, thank God," said Pete.

John went to look at Harriet Jones. Her eyes seemed glazed over and she was obviously in some kind of pain.

"Harriet Jones, President," she said almost looking absent-minded.

"What's happened?," asked John.

"She said she was hearing a voice," said Pete.

"A voice?," asked John.

"I'm not trying to be insensitive, but shouldn't we be talking to a psychiatrist?," asked Gwen.

"It's not like that," protested Harriet, "I know I'm not hearing it. It's just there. I'm not mad!"

"No, you're not." John took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

"Are you carrying that thing around now?," asked Adeola in dismay.

"Yes," he said, "and it's a good thing I am. It's not in her head, it's coming from somewhere. Something like a psychic signaller, I would suppose."

"Psychic signaller?," asked Gwen. "You're serious? Have you got a tape deck you can use to build that one as well?"

"Tape deck?," asked Harriet.

"Don't worry, Madame President. Mr. Smith is one of our most experienced operatives."

"What's a psychic signaller, John?," asked Adeola.

"It's a device that sends a message into the brain of the recipient anywhere in time and space."

"Someone wants in my head?," asked Harriet. "Oh, my goodness."

John looked at Pete. "It would be better if she were relieved of her duties for the time being, until we know where the signal is coming from and what the sender wants."

Pete nodded. "I'm inclined to agree. Madame President?"

Harriet sighed, defeated. "I suppose I have no choice."

"I'll alert the vice president," said Pete.

"Madame President," said John, "you need to tell Adeola when this began and everything you've thought since, particularly if something seems off, as if it's not your own."

"What good will that do?"

"If we can uncover a pattern, it might help us decide what they want and who they are."

Harriet nodded. "I'll do my best."

"Gwen, you're with me."

John and Gwen went to the hall. John started heading for the lift, he pushed the button and they waited.

"Where are we going?," asked Gwen.

"To see our prisoner."

"Do you think he has something to do with this?"

John shrugged. "I don't know, but this is alien technology, a subtle psychic signal directed at an individual, mass mind control is much easier."

The lift doors opened and they got in.

"Like the Cybermen," said Gwen.

"Yeah, sort of, but there's no mechanical helper in this case, this is all organic, all on the fly."

They arrived at the holding floor and went past the guard. John took out his key card and opened the door to Commander Harkness' cell. The telly they had supplied him with had the unmistakable sound of moaning, screaming and cheesy music.

"How did you get porn on there?," asked Gwen.

Jack shrugged. "A lot of free time and a toothbrush."

"We need to talk," said John. He shut off the telly. "Know anything about a psychic signaller?"

"No, don't you?"

"Why should he?," asked Gwen.

John turned to Gwen. "Only psychic species would make one usually. At least you would need someone with psychic abilities to help you along."

"Like the Time Lords," supplied Jack, not turning his gaze from the telly.

"You said they were all in seclusion," said John.

"There might be one or two stragglers or someone who's being punished," Jack added.

"Oh, good of you to mention it," said John.

"What? This is the Time Lords?," Gwen asked in disbelief.

"No, the Time Lords wouldn't bother," said John. "If they wanted Earth, they'd have it by now. So, that leaves a rogue, a renegade?"

"Ever met someone called the Master?," asked Jack.

"What?," asked John. His heart sank.

"Exiled to Earth before seclusion began, he's crazy."

"Yeah, I know," said John.

"Oh, you do know him. When I met him, he seemed a little obsessed with your counterpart. Want to tell me what that's all about?"

"Where do I find him?," asked John.

"No idea."

"Oh, well, that's helpful." He paused. "Next time, be sure to tell us about any psychopaths you know of living on Earth."

"What? Are you two just going to leave me here alone? Again?," asked Jack.

"Oh, you and your right hand ought to be fine," said Gwen. "Wouldn't want to get in the way."

John shut the door before hearing the end of Jack's retort.

"I'm going to make a list of aliases," said John, "pseudonyms of the Master, I'll need you to search for them, see if you can find any records."

"We have facial recognition software," said Gwen.

"That won't work," said John.

"You sure it's him?," asked Gwen.

"Seems like something he might do."

"What did he have to do to get exiled?"

"That we probably don't want to know," said John.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Gwen came up to John's desk with a sheet of paper. "I found something on one of the aliases you gave me. Harold Saxon?"<p>

John swiped the sheet. "A missing persons report?"

"His wife, Lucy, reported him missing six months ago."

John shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. That doesn't make sense for so many reasons. Do we know anything about him? Harold Saxon?"

"Taxpayer, member of the Bucklebury Men's Show Choir, does pottery."

John rubbed his forehead. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Why? A little boring-"

"He doesn't run a secret lab? He didn't appear out of nowhere and try to take over the Parish Council or something?"

"No, John, he's thoroughly ordinary."

John sighed. "I suppose we're off to Bucklebury."

Gwen groaned. "Here I go, yet further into England."

* * *

><p>Donna couldn't believe what she was witnessing.<p>

Ethan. On time. With child appropriate plans for the weekend. It was if she wasn't speaking to the same man.

"So, first we'll go to the children's museums I think," said Ethan. "Then, lunch. Then the park? What do we think?"

"Okay," said Josh.

"Okay."

Ethan looked at Donna. "I'll have them back in time for supper tomorrow. Got to be in bed early for school, don't we?"

Donna just shook her head. Who the hell was in front of her?

"Ethan, is something going on?"

Ethan shrugged. "No. Nothing. Oh, I did meet a new girl. She's done me a world of good."

"I can see."

"Well, kids, say goodbye to your mother."

"Bye, Mummy," said Ella.

Donna knelt down and hugged her. "Goodbye, sweetheart. Call Mummy if you need anything."

"Okay."

She turned to Josh and hugged him. "Mummy will miss you. Call and say good night, alright?"

"Okay," he grumbled.

Then they were off. Donna's mobile rang.

"You won't believe what just happened," said Donna.

"I won't?," asked John.

"Ethan arrived on time to collect the children for the weekend and he's taking them to the museum."

"That's unlike him."

"So, have you wrapped up saving the world yet? We have the house to ourselves, we could be doing truly unsavory things to one another."

"As much as I would like to, I have to go to Bucklebury."

"Bucklebury? Are you serious? What's that got to do with anything?"

"Trying to piece that together now," said John.

Donna took a breath. "Let me know that you're alright later."

"I'll be fine," said John.

* * *

><p>Gwen drove one of the Torchwood Land Rovers as John sat in the passenger seat.<p>

"When are you getting a car, John?," asked Gwen.

"I don't need a car."

"I bet Donna would love for you to have a car. She would probably get you anything you like."

John groaned. "Has she been speaking to you?"

"No..." She looked at John's scowl. "Okay, yes. She just wants to get you a wedding present and you do need a car. Two trains and a bus is ridiculous."

"We could carpool."

Gwen snorted. "Yeah, why don't I drive all the way to posh Notting Hill from my hovel in my Peugot? Your neighbors will call the police."

"Probably."

"It's only funny when I say it."

"Who's being funny?"

They drove to what was supposedly the house of Harold Saxon. John spied the figure of Lucy Saxon in the garden. They went up and introduced themselves and she invited them in for tea.

Tea, they were having tea.

John found that although Lucy Saxon may have looked the same as her counterpart, she wasn't as emotionally brittle. She was obviously upset over her husband's disappearance but she wasn't at an Ophelia-like edge of madness. She proudly showed John and Gwen their wedding photos and some of her husband's pottery. Just when John thought it wasn't weird enough, she showed them a video of the Bucklebury Men's Show Choir doing a Scissor Sisters medley.

"And he just disappeared?," asked John.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, I went out to my garden. When I came back he was gone."

"Was there anything askew?," asked Gwen. "Anything else missing?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, I checked and checked. The police thought he just ran off, but my Harry would never have done that."

"Your Harry?," asked John.

Lucy looked at John in confusion. Gwen stepped on his foot, he yelped.

"Oh, sorry, John. Anyway, Lucy, nothing else unusual?

"Well, the lights were flickering."

"The lights?," asked John.

"Yeah," said Lucy.

"Wasn't the weather or anything?"

"No, weather was fine."

"Okay," said John, "do you have any medical records for your husband?"

"No, Harry's never sick."

"How did you two meet?," asked Gwen.

"I just found him one day. He was practically homeless, no money, no job, said he had just been dropped off by his doctor or someone-"

"Doctor?," asked John. "A doctor or the Doctor?"

"Well, not that I can remember his exact wording, but I think he said the."

John and Gwen thanked Lucy for her cooperation and promised they would be in touch.

"You think that thing about the lights is anything?," John asked Gwen once they were back in the car.

"Sorry, I was too distracted by the show choir thing."

"Yeah, that was disturbing," said John.

Gwen started the car and turned to ask John another question: "Do all Time Lords have an affinity for show tunes or is it just you two?"

* * *

><p>Rose pulled her car up to the designated meeting point. Another warehouse. Her new employers weren't big on variety. She went inside where Madame Kovarian was waiting for her.<p>

"Miss Tyler," she said, "how do you like your new charge?"

Rose shrugged. "He's alright, I suppose. I got him to do what you asked."

She heard a scream.

"What was that?," she asked.

"Another of our charges. I'll introduce you."

Madame Kovarian led Rose through the warehouse and down a long and winding staircase to a small room with two guards.

At the center of it was a man, in his early forties maybe, short brown hair. He was tied to a chair with his hands behind his back. He looked up at Rose with a sneer.

"Oh, good. A visitor. Come to play torture the Time Lord? Step right up and have a go!"

"Time Lord?," asked Rose. "That's impossible, though."

The man looked at Kovarian. "I know you want to shoot electrodes through me but do I have to listen to little girls say stupid things as well?"

"Rose Tyler," said Kovarian, "meet the Master."


	9. An Impossible Man

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. Thanks for reading and following and reviewing, can't wait to hear what you think and please enjoy! Oh, and I haven't said hello to the lurkers lately, actually at all in this series. So, hello, lurkers!

* * *

><p>Rose evaluated the man in front of her, the one called Master. His features were ordinary enough, but there was a hint of something in his eyes, something dangerous.<p>

"Staring is rude, you know," he said.

"How can he be a Time Lord? The Doctor told me that all the Time Lords were dead..."

"That's a new pick up line, isn't it? 'I'm the last of my species, please shag me.'"

Rose slapped the Master across the face.

He grinned. "So! It's like that is it? And they say I'm the one with the dark side!"

"Shut up!," screamed Rose.

Madame Kovarian made no comment on the interaction. In fact, she seemed pleased by it.

The Master appraised her. "You're not the companion who had the baby, are you? No, wait she was ginger. I get you all mixed up."

"Shut up!"

"He must not be screening companions properly."

"The Master has been helping us with a little project," said Kovarian.

"What sort of a project?"

"To help us reach the Doctor."

"Oh, yeah, because I'm just-"

The Master started screaming as more electricity flowed through him. Kovarian led Rose out.

"He's dangerous. You must understand."

Rose thought she saw something and looked back at Kovarian's face.

"Yeah, I get it," said Rose, her pulse racing. "He has to be controlled."

"Good," said Kovarian. She walked over and took a small bag off a table. "I need you to give this to your charge. It's a gift."

"A gift?"

"A wedding gift."

* * *

><p>Donna woke up to the sound of her mobile ringing. She reached over to get it nothing she had fallen asleep downstairs in the sitting room, half to wait up for John and half because she was so enamored by the idea of having the television to herself. Though she might have owned a lot of networks, she never got to watch anything but the kids' channels and thus had spent the night flipping between reality shows about decorating and shopping for wedding dresses. She picked her phone up groggily and muttered something like a greeting.<p>

"Mummy?"

Donna's eyes shot open. It was Ella and she sounded terrified.

"Mummy, please come get me," she said not waiting for Donna to speak. "Please come save me."

"Ella, what's wrong?"

She heard Ella scream and bolted off the sofa. She ran to find her keys and threw on the coat nearest the door. She jumped in the Land Rover, running every red light and breaking every speed limit until she arrived at Ethan's house.

She leapt out of the vehicle, rain pouring on her and ran to the front door, banging on it with both fists.

"Ethan! Open the bloody door!"

Donna banged more and noticed some lights flicking on at the neighbors, obviously curious at what drama was happening.

"Ethan, open the door or I'm calling the police!"

Donna saw the light in the front hall flick on and Ethan opened the door.

"Jesus Christ, Donna-"

She shoved her way past Ethan and went into the house.

"Ella! Josh!"

"Oh, come on," said Ethan, slamming the front door, "she just had a nightmare."

Donna turned. "Ella never has nightmares. Ella!"

She went upstairs, Ethan hot on her heels. She found Josh in the hallway, rubbing his eyes.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?," she said, rubbing the side of his face.

"I'm fine. Ella had a bad dream."

"Ella!"

Donna went in the guest room that Ethan had designated for Ella. She flicked on the light and didn't see her in the bed.

"Ella?"

"Mummy?," a small voice said muffled by the cupboard door. She slid it open and knelt down to face Ella.

"Sweetheart, what happened?"

Ella threw her arms around Donna. "There was a monster."

"What?"

Josh sighed and came in, followed by Ethan.

"A monster with big scary eyes."

"There was no monster, Ella," said Ethan tersely. "I showed you about ten times. Aren't they a little old for monsters?"

Donna rubbed circles around Ella's back. "It's okay, sweetheart. You're safe. Mummy's here."

"Oh, thank God Mummy's here," said Ethan.

Donna shot him a glare. "Is this what you call being a father? Letting her cry alone in a cupboard! Do you have any idea what to do with a child?"

"I suppose John's better."

Donna grimaced. No way could she answer that and not have it thrown back at her either in court or the therapy her poor children would no doubt need after being left in Ethan's care. She knew in her gut something was wrong, Ella was never like this, she never had nightmares, it wasn't right and she wasn't about to leave her children here without an explanation.

"Joshua, get your things," said Donna.

"Mum..."

"No moaning! I'm taking you both home."

Josh stomped off down the hall.

"It's my weekend," protested Ethan.

"Fine. When you can demonstrate you know what to do with a child, you can have your weekend which is suddenly so precious to you!"

Donna picked up Ella's pink suitcase and put what possessions she found in it. She handed Ella her teddy bear and put the little girl's coat on her. Josh returned resentfully, but resigned. She took them downstairs and out to the car.

"You ruined everything," Josh said to Ella.

"Josh, that's not fair. She can't help it if she's scared, can she?"

"It was a monster and it stared at me and it had great big dark eyes."

Donna nodded. "I'm sure it was very scary, sweetheart."

"There was no stupid monster! She said it was right behind me and I looked and I don't remember seeing anything!"

This only made Ella sob more and Donna looked at her pitifully in the rearview mirror.

"It's alright, sweetheart. You can sleep with Mummy, okay? Mummy won't let anything happen to you."

* * *

><p>John entered the bedroom Sunday morning surprised to find two ginger heads in the bed.<p>

"Donna?," he whispered.

Donna stirred and smiled at him. Ella was attached to her, arms locked around her mum.

"I thought Ethan had them," said John.

"He did. She got scared and he brought them home."

John shook his head.

"I know," she said, "you missed your chance."

He shrugged as he sat on Donna's edge of the bed. "I'll have other chances."

"I saw the news. Harriet Jones has been excused from office?"

"Should be only temporary." He paused. "Do me a favor? Because I'm probably just being paranoid, could you not let anyone new in? Especially someone called Harold Saxon? I can get you a photo."

"Who is he?," asked Donna.

"An enemy of the Doctor's, it's probably nothing."

He got up and went to the bathroom and started washing his face only to discover Donna standing next to him at the sink.

"Enemy?," asked Donna. "Like blood enemy or like that bint at the Parents' Association I can't stand?"

"Well..."

"John."

"More of the blood enemy persuasion I should think. Of course, I don't know what happened between them in this universe, but he might have been the one to put him into exile on Earth."

"How worried should I be? Really?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if he realizes I'm here or if he would even care. I just want you to be careful."

"How careful? John, I have kids."

"I know and I would never let anything happen to them."

"I know you wouldn't, but I don't want anything happening to you either." Donna sighed. "Do you have to go back?"

"Yeah, I got sent home to take a nap."

"Wait, so you haven't slept at all?" Donna was incredulous. "Since Thursday night? Do you want to kill yourself?"

"I'm fine," John said as he yawned.

"Go to bed," said Donna. "After you eat something. Can't have you saving the Earth on an empty stomach."

* * *

><p>A few hours later John returned to Torchwood freshly showered, with a few hours of sleep and one of Josh's old lunch boxes with a Lamborghini on the front.<p>

"You have a lunch box," said Adeola.

"Yeah," said John, "I know."

"Donna's idea?"

"Yeah, she doesn't think I eat enough."

"She's right," said Adeola.

"What did you get from the President?," asked John.

"It's not words, so much as images, she sketched these..." Adeola took out a collection of drawings done on printer paper with pencil. "Oh, and this."

Adeola put down a printout of Edvard Munch's The Scream.

"Now, I don't think Harriet Jones did this," he said.

"No, she just said that's one of the images that's been flashing through her head."

"The Scream? Why The Scream?" He flipped through the others. He found sketches of a glass dome beneath two suns and a blue phone box.

"They don't seem to make any sense," said Adeola.

"Oh, they make perfect sense," said John. "It's a call for help."

"What?"

"He's in trouble, been kidnapped, so he has to make contact with someone and uses a psychic distress call. The President of Great Britain starts getting pictures of alien planets and a blue phone box in her head, she calls Torchwood. Torchwood puts blue phone box in their great big database and they get the Doctor and go after whatever is sending this thing." He paused. "We've got to find a way to get more information, he wants us to find him."

* * *

><p>Madame Kovarian did not seem pleased to see Rose return with the gift.<p>

"What happened?," she said stiffly.

"I couldn't get it to them. They went home early. Something about monsters."

"Well, you'll have to work out some other way of getting it to them, won't you?"

Rose nodded. "Do I have to keep seeing him?"

"We may find him useful yet."

"What is this thing anyway? It just looks like a clock."

"Did I say you had permission to look at it?"

"Sorry, I just thought..."

"Thinking is not required, Miss Tyler."

Rose nodded. "Right. Sorry."

"Let's have another visit with our friend."

Rose followed Kovarian back to the Master's cell. This time there was a work table with some sort of device that seemed as if it was made out of an old Discman, a crazy straw and some tin cans, at the middle was a tiny piece of coral.

"That's TARDIS coral," said Rose. "How did you get TARDIS coral?"

The Master looked at Kovarian. "Really?"

"You, Master, are going to teach Rose Tyler how to use the telepathic signaller."

The Master snorted. "I may have thirteen lives, but even I don't have that long."

"I can pick it up," said Rose.

"Right, and your degrees in temporal mechanics and inter-species neurology are from where?"

"I'm certain you can find a way to communicate it to her," said Kovarian.

"Right, see, the TARDIS translation circuits don't speak moron."

"I'm not stupid," said Rose.

"Look around you, you're the only one around here without an Eye Drive, that means they don't think you're that clever."

"You don't have one."

"Gosh, well, got me there, don't you? Guess I'll just shut up! I'm a prisoner you idiot, but rest assured I am a fully certified genius."

"Good. I'll leave you two then," said Kovarian.

She left and Rose found herself alone with the Master.

"Well, this is going to be a low point," said the Master, "and you have no idea how serious that is."

* * *

><p>It was Monday. So far, the images were still in Harriet's head with nothing new, nothing to tell John where the mysterious signal was coming from and nothing to confirm it was a message from the Master.<p>

The nation was in an uproar. The Vice President had assumed the office, they had not of course released the actual reason why, leading to endless media speculation on the topic. Since the Cybus incident, the people of this country were not unreasonably paranoid. The sudden disappearance of a popular leader had everyone tense, all they said was "health issues."

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything else," said Harriet. "Those images."

"Someone's trying to communicate with you," explained John. "I think he's in trouble."

"You think?," she asked.

Pete spoke up. "The man in question has a reputation. It could be a trap."

"A trap? To what end?"

"Even if it is," said John, "we don't have much choice but to follow it or we'll never find out what's going on."

There was a knock at the door. Gwen poked her head in.

"Sorry, Madame President. John, it's for you. It's Ella's school, they say it's an emergency."

"Right. Please excuse me."

* * *

><p>John borrowed Gwen's car and she was right, it did look out of place amongst all the Land Rovers and X5s in the school car park. He went to the Headmistress' office where they had been expecting him.<p>

John had met the headmistress, Elizabeth Caldwell, on a previous Parents' Evening with Donna. She was an older woman, in her early sixties, he suspected and had seen just about everything. She seemed unnerved as she led John through the school.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Smith," said the Headmistress, "we do prefer to deal with these problems at the school to teach the children a little self-reliance, but it's escalated. Ms. Noble is on a flight to France, I understand?"

"Yes, she has a day trip."

"Mr. Croft says he's busy."

John nodded. "He usually is."

They went into what looked like an art classroom. John saw Lisette and the art teacher, a pretty young woman with dark hair, Miss Johnson, standing by a cupboard.

"What's going on exactly?," asked John.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Smith," said Lisette. "I've tried and she just won't come out."

"She started screaming in the middle of class," said Miss Johnson. "Ella's never been a troublemaker, she's one of my best pupils. She shut herself in there and refuses to come out."

John walked over to the cupboard and knocked on the door. "Ella?"

"Who is it?"

"It's John." He paused. "Why don't you come out?"

"No."

"May I come in then?"

She didn't answer. John opened the door to the cupboard and stepped inside.

"Shut the door," said Ella.

John shut the door and carefully felt his way down to the floor. Ella was hiding behind some coats, her back pressed against the wall.

"What's wrong, Ella?," asked John.

"I saw a monster."

John nodded. "Okay."

"The same one as at Daddy's, no one believes me."

"I believe you."

"You do."

"Of course I do."

She shook her head. "They all looked right at it and then said there wasn't anything."

"Okay," said John. "Why don't you come out of the cupboard?"

"What if it's out there?"

"Then I'll be out there." He leaned in to her. "Ella, I am really good at fighting monsters."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah. I've been doing it for ages and no way am I going to let one get my Ella."

She nodded. "Okay."

John picked her up and they came out of the cupboard.

"See anything?," he asked.

"No, not now," she said.

"Okay, why don't you go back to class-"

"No!," shouted Ella, burying her face in John's shoulder.

"Okay, Lisette, why don't you take her home for the day-"

"No!"

"Okay, okay," said John.

"I want to go with you," she said, her words muffled by John's jacket.

"I have to go to work."

"Please?"

"Okay, just until your mummy collects you."

John looked around at the art as Miss Johnson went with Lisette to collect Ella's things. He sat on the edge of a table, Ella still in his arms.

"Pictures..." he mused.

"What?," asked Ella with a tiny voice.

"Of course! It's a two way signal! If we can get images, we can send them back and get new ones! I just have to devise something basic enough for Harriet to use that the Master can understand!"

"Okay," said Ella, having broken contact with John's shoulder in order to look at his face and try to decipher what he was saying.

"You're not to worry, but trust me, it's brilliant."


	10. Farewell Again

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Rose, Donna, Madame Kovarian, etc. Thanks for the reads and the follows and the reviews. Enjoy this chapter and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>John returned with Ella to Torchwood, finally arriving back at the Extraterrestrial Section.<p>

"Is this where you work?," asked Ella as John put her behind his desk.

"Yes, it is."

"It's big."

Gwen walked over.

"Gwen, you remember Ella, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah..." She leaned in. "You brought a kid?"

"I couldn't leave her, trust me. She'll be fine. Ella, why don't you draw me a picture?"

"Of what?"

"Anything you like. I just have to go have grown-up talk, alright?"

"Alright."

John followed Gwen.

"I've got an idea," said John.

* * *

><p>Harriet Jones had no idea what she was looking at when John Smith returned with three pictures.<p>

"I don't understand," she said.

Bernard cleared his throat as he looked at the pictures. "I'm afraid I'm not quite following either."

"I'm trying to get a message to the man sending you these images." John held up the first. "A torch." He replaced it with the second. "A piece of wood."

"Torchwood?," said Harriet.

"You're giving away who we are?," asked Pete.

John looked at Pete. "Yes. I think it's the only way." He turned back to Harriet. "It's very important that you not attach to much meaning to the images, just try to get at their most basic level, otherwise human beings, your minds flit from one thing to the other, the message gets muddled."

He showed her the last picture.

"A compass," said Pete.

"It's the only way I could think of to ask where he is," said John. "This will be the hardest part of whatever you get back. Try to interpret it with as clear a head as possible."

Harriet nodded. "I'll try."

* * *

><p>"Here's Johnny!," exclaimed Jack.<p>

John entered the cell and the door slid shut behind him. John stood against the wall. "You're in a good mood."

Jack nodded. "No thanks to you. Why did you cut off my TV service?"

John ignored him and decided not to tell him about the sexual harassment complaints from his guards. "The Master in this universe. What's his story?"

"Why? Is that who is behind the thing with the President?"

"Yes, but not how you think. I think he's being held hostage."

Jack snorted. "That would be a new one."

"Meaning?"

"Look, the Master's crazy, I'll grant you that, but he's been one of the most successful in the war against the Silence."

"Then why is he in exile?"

Jack shrugged. "You know Time Lords. They don't always make a lot of sense. I didn't get much of an explanation before the seclusion began."

"Have you fought him?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, sometimes. Then sometimes I fought with him."

"You know him, though. You can counter him."

"Are you asking for help?"

"Yeah. Too busy?"

Jack grinned. "I might be able to fit you in."

The door opened. It was the guard, a pudgy man in his forties named Scott.

Jack gave a wolf whistle. "Looking good, Scotty!"

"Sir," the guard said to John, "Miss Cooper called. The President's seen something."

* * *

><p>John went and looked at Harriet's work.<p>

"I know it's nonsensical, but it's all I'm getting," shrugged Harriet.

John looked at the drawing, a series of concentric circles with smaller circles lines up along them.

"It's not nonsensical," said John. "It's an element."

"An atom?," asked Harriet. "You'll have to excuse me, I haven't looked at a Chemistry text since I passed my A levels."

John counted up the circles. "Fifty-one! Antimony!"

"And what is antimony?," asked Gwen.

"You know, antimony," said John. "Don't you know what antimony is?"

"A picture of a potato and antimony. Is that what you want to go on?"

John followed Gwen back to her desk. She sat down at her computer. "Okay, I put in potato and antimony and all I've got are adverts for combine harvesters in India. This is a dead end. Suppose your friend doesn't want to be found?," asked Gwen.

"Why send out a distress call then? He could have taken over Harriet's mind, but he hasn't." He thought. "Fifty one."

"What about it?"

"That's the atomic number of antimony. He could have chosen anything and he chose to show us antimony. We asked for a locarion and we got potatoes and fifty-one."

"Fifty-one potatoes?"

"No, no, no..." John paced around the bullpen, a globe finally caught his eye. He started spinning it.

"John?," asked Gwen.

He ran his fingers across the lines of longitude and latitude.

Fifty-one met fifty-one in London.

"He's here," said John. "Fifty-one, fifty-one, potatoes. See what you turn up."

Skeptically, Gwen searched the computer. Her eyes widened as the Torchwood search engines turned up something. "An old produce warehouse in Tottenham."

* * *

><p>John didn't like the more exciting, no, make that the more ludicrously dangerous gun-toting aspects of working with Torchwood. Want him to fight aliens? Fine. Cybermen splinter cell? Fine. Just don't make him carry a gun because he thought guns made people stupid and dangerous and that was a horrible combination.<p>

So, he joined Gwen, Adeola and Jack in the Torchwood armory, refusing to take any sidearms, arguing with Gwen in the process until she finally said she would take an extra on his behalf. He put on the Kevlar and took a helmet, though he wasn't thrilled about it. He didn't want to imagine what getting shot in the head was all about and didn't want to find out firsthand.

He went back to the bullpen to check on Ella.

"I did lots of drawings," said Ella.

"I see that, they're wonderful," said John, picking them up to examine them.

"Which one would you like?," asked Ella. "Are you going to hang it?"

"I'll find a spot for it somewhere." He pointed. "Tell me about this one."

Ella pointed proudly. "That's you and Mummy and me and Josh is over there looking angry."

"What's that last thing?"

Ella smiled. "That's a pony."

John looked at her.

"I want a pony."

"Oh, do we, miss?"

John smiled and looked up to see Donna running towards them, Ianto hot on her heels.

"What happened?," she asked.

"Mummy," said Ella. She threw her arms around Donna.

"The school called me, I went to collect her," said John.

"Yeah, of course," said Donna. She rubbed Ella's back. "Mummy will take you home, okay?"

Just then, Gwen and Jack chose to enter in full riot gear.

"Oh, hello, Donna," said Gwen as if she wasn't carrying a machine gun.

Donna looked at Jack. "You sold me my wedding dress," she said in shock.

"Yeah, alterations should be ready any day."

Donna looked over to John. "What's going on?"

"He's a Time Agent."

Jack looked at Ianto. "Hello, handsome."

"Hi..." said Ianto skeptically.

"Why is he flirting with Ianto?," asked Donna.

John shook his head. "It's what he does."

"John, we have to be going," said Gwen.

"Going?," asked Donna. "Where are you going? With guns?"

"A moment, everyone."

Donna looked down at Ella. "Sweetheart, go with Ianto. Mummy will be right there."

Ianto took Ella's hand. John looked at Donna.

"Everything's going to be alright," said John.

"You never said you do this sort of thing."

"I don't, I don't carry a gun."

"Somehow I'm not reassured by that."

"I'll be home later. I promise."

She nodded. "Thanks for getting Ella. She adores you, you know." She leaned in and whispered. "You are going to be a great dad. So, don't get killed."

"Alright, team!," shouted Gwen. "Tactical briefing before we take the warehouse!"

Donna kissed John and patted him on the shoulder, sending him on his way back to the meeting. He watched as she left.

* * *

><p>The Master looked at Rose exasperated. He couldn't believe his life had come to this point.<p>

"Did you finish junior school?," he asked. "Did you finish Kindergarten? If I were on Gallifrey, I could have explained this to someone in nursery school by now!"

Rose crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. "If Gallifrey's so great, why'd you leave it then?"

He scoffed. "Do you think I had a choice? Do you think I would choose to be confined to this pathetic little planet? Granted, some of your music is quite good, but the general level of idiocy I have had to deal with is enough to drive anyone mad."

"Just show me how to use the signaller."

The Master smiled. "Oh, but I have been, Rose Tyler. I have been."

"But I still don't understand what you're doing."

"Not surprised there," he scoffed.

Rose didn't have to think about that because he heard footsteps coming down the hall. She turned to see as Madame Kovarian came in the door flanked by security. She turned to look at the Master.

"What have you done?," she asked the Master angrily.

"Don't know what you mean."

Rose heard doors being knocked down and the sound of heavy boots. Then gunfire began.

"Oh, wait," said the Master, "do you mean how I built your signaller and used it to call for help and now Torchwood is coming in there with an army?"

"Torchwood?," asked Rose. "I can't be found here by Torchwood!"

"Torchwood is of no concern to us," said Kovarian.

"Yeah, but they didn't know you existed before and now they do. How are you going to function? Oh, for those keeping score at home, that's Time Lords, a billion and the Silence, naught!"

"We have to leave," said Kovarian. "Come along, Miss Tyler."

Rose looked at the Master.

"Guess you don't have time to escape and kill me," said the Master.

"I don't," said Kovarian. "Bring the signaller, Miss Tyler."

Rose picked the signaller up off the table and followed Madame Kovarian out the back door of the warehouse. She heard the Master's screams and the lights flickered.

John looked up at the flickering lights.

"Oh, potato smell," said Adeola, crouching by John. "That's come good."

"What was that?," asked Gwen from across the warehouse, where she was crouched behind some crates.

"Electrical interference," he said looking at the lights. "Just like Lucy Saxon described!"

"Cover me!," shouted Jack.

"Bloody hell," muttered Gwen and she stood up and gave Jack cover fire as he moved further in to take out more guards.

"I really don't like guns," said John.

"Clear!," said Jack.

"Clear!," confirmed one of the other Torchwood tactical people.

John stood up, he swore he could hear something. He started running towards the back.

"John! Wait! We haven't secured that part of the building!"

John ran to a small room, where he smelled something quite unsettling, like barbecue gone bad. He entered, gagging on the smell and saw the Master, lying on the floor, charred, smoke coming off him, looking more like a charcoal briquet than a man, only a glimmer of life left in his eyes.

"Master," he said breathlessly. He knelt down beside him.

The Master looked at him, he seemed to have a glint of recognition.

"Doctor..."

"No," said John, "I'm not-"

"Are we meeting out of order?" He heaved a deep sigh. "I hate meeting out of order... It's so... contrived."

His eyes shut.

"No!," said John. He knelt down beside him. "No, don't! Not again! Regenerate, you idiot!"

John felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Jack standing behind him.

"The Time Lords took away his remaining regenerations," said Jack. "I'm sorry."

John looked back at the Master's burnt form. He finally stood up and felt something in his gut, followed by Jack holding him as Gwen and Adeola shot their guns more.

"Ow," said John.

"John, you just got shot!," exclaimed Jack.

"Really? It's not so bad," he groaned, "Oh, wait there it is. Still, not the worst pain ever. Absorbing the Time Vortex, much worse."

John felt wobbly as Jack held him and all he could hear was reassurances that they had him, he would be fine and the pain was becoming unbearable.

And it all went black...


	11. Arrival of a Time Lady

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, Torchwood, etc. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing the last chapter and following, it was so great. I hope you enjoy this next chapter and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Donna Noble, all powerful Chaorwoman and CEO of the giant Noble Corporation, was distracted.<p>

She really wanted a baby.

When she was in her thirties, she had decided she didn't want to fall into the cliche of the woman who focuses on her career so that when she finally gets around to having a baby she can't, so she had demanded some children out of Ethan in the abrasive way she sometimes had and had mistaken his apathy towards the question for eagerness. She had no regrets about it, she got her two gorgeous children out of it but as soon as they were born, even though she wasn't ready to face the fact that her marriage was a failure, she knew Ethan was not the father she wanted for her children. Lance had been good with the kids, but that's probably because he was trying to cover up his embezzlement. Shawn was awkward around them, but he split anyway.

Then there had been John. He was so easy with them, so willing to jump in. She discovered that he had been a father or rather had the memories of being a father. She broached the baby subject carefully, not wanting to scare him off. He had responded enthusiastically, they didn't work out specifics right away, but later in the engagement they had started all out trying.

Frankly, she was a little annoyed with Torchwood for having taken him away when they had ample opportunity to continue trying while Josh and Ella were with their dad. That had blown up, but still. She supposed on their honeymoon they could go blissfully uniterrupted for two weeks.

She had found another fertility expert after the S&M pirate fetish lady, a Doctor Kapoor, who wore khakis and a peach jumper. She had confirmed that all things were in good working order and hadn't needed a general anesthetic to do it. Now, in every spare minute all she could think about was having another baby. What it would be like to hold a tiny, wriggling little newborn. She went back and forth on its appearance: the girl version was all Donna with John's eyes and the boy version was all his dad with crazy brown hair on his little head. She imagined what it would be like to cuddle them and sing to them. Josh and Ella would have to be worked on, Ella might be more easily persuaded if she had a cute baby sister she could help dress up. Josh, well... Josh would have to be worked on.

She had actually caught herself in a baby shop and had walked away with their catalog, stopping herself from actually buying. She had been browsing baby websites in between appointments and had bought a book of baby names. She was starting to be afraid that if she had to wait around much longer she would turn into a single-minded baby monster the way Nerys had when she was going through fertility treatments until Donna had finally told her she was becoming a madwoman.

So, here she was, browsing websites, trying to decide if she wanted the nursery to be pink or blue themed or if she wanted to get the cream set that looked so elegant, but she figured would be impossible to keep clean. Then she thought maybe she could buy multiples of everything and just get a full-time maid. She supposed that would work, if John was going to take time off work to look after the baby, it would only be fair. The poor man was so hopeless with housework, Donna supposed it wouldn't be right to leave him alone and defenseless.

A man looking after a baby. Now that Donna had to see.

Then the phone rang.

* * *

><p>Humans often talked about having their lives flash before their eyes when they were about to die. This didn't occur to John as he watched over nine hundred years of his and the Doctor's life go by him.<p>

Then all of a sudden he wasn't in the Doctor's life, he was in his own, the day he had fallen over the edge of the ferry, floating in the rough, cold sea wondering what the hell went wrong, feeling more alone and more insignificant than he ever had.

Then he strangely would blink back into consciousness. The first time was in the ambulance with the paramedics and Jack in the back. He bolted upright and screamed in pain, then they wrestled him back down and he found the allure of closing his eyes too much to resist.

And there he was floating in the sea, except now he wasn't just adrift in the waves, he was floating past things, past Gallifrey. It had the absentminded logic of a dream with John wondering how he had never noticed that the Citadel had an oceanfront view. Floating past the hills, past he and the Master running through red hills.

Then he saw only white in front of him and it took him a minute to come to terms with the fact that was because he was staring at ceiling tiles. He was strapped down.

"Mr. Smith," he heard a familiar voice say. "Mr. Smith?"

He looked to the side and there was Adeola. Or was it Martha? She had a doctor's coat on...

"Martha? What are you doing here? You can't breach the wall between realities..."

She looked at him quizzically. "How did you know my name?"

"Martha, I'm so sorry..."

She frowned even more. "Mr. Smith, try not to speak. You've been shot, okay? We're going to stabilize you and take you to surgery."

He took a deep breath and he was floating again, Martha's voice echoing somewhere above him, promising they would call his next of kin. That seemed silly, he could see them as he floated past...

He floated past leaving Gallifrey, the TARDIS, so many lives, they seemed to be moving faster like a blur and finally he floated ashore and he realized he had washed up at Bad Wolf Bay.

The TARDIS was leaving, like it had before.

"Get back here!," he shouted. "Come back!"

John came to, spotting a glint of red hair.

His mouth was dry, he was finding it difficult to say anything as he listened.

"Do you think you got everything, though?," he heard Donna ask. "What about sepsis?"

The man in surgical scrubs stiffened. "What do you know about sepsis?"

"What? I can't bloody read? My fiance gets shot and you don't think I'll go on the Internet? Armor piercing bullets, they leave little bits of shrapnel, not surprisingly they're not sterile, ergo sepsis. So, let's make sure all those bits are out of John, why don't we? What about another CT to check?"

"Well, that's costly and unnecessary-"

"Oh, I hate the bloody NHS. I'll pay for whatever it bloody is."

"That's not how it works, Ms. Noble."

Even only half aware of what was going on, John could tell Donna was taking that as a personal challenge. "Well, we'll see, won't we?"

"Donna..."

"Sweetheart." Donna rushed over and leaned down. "I'm right here, John."

"What? Why aren't you at work?"

She narrowed her gaze at him. "John, you've been shot, you git." She ran her fingers through his hair. "It's Thursday."

"Thursday?"

"You've been in and out of consciousness, Mr. Smith," said the doctor. "You had a slight post-surgical infection."

"Slight, he says," Donna said with a shake of her head. "Slight. Huge fever. Near death." She leaned in. "Don't worry. I'm getting you in a private ward as soon as possible."

John sat up.

"John, what are you doing?," exclaimed Donna.

"I need to talk to Pete."

"Mr. Smith, you shouldn't move from your bed," said the Doctor.

"You need to stay in your bloody bed," said Donna putting a firm hand on his chest.

"The Master. His body." John took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He couldn't keep up with his own thoughts. "I have to take care of it."

"I think they probably have people for that, John," said Donna.

"No, it's not like that, I have to take care of it."

"If it's that important to you, I'll ring Pete Tyler and he can come here, but you have to stay in bed or you'll never get well, will you?"

John laid back down.

* * *

><p>Donna, true to her word, got John transferred to a room in the private unit first order of business the next day. Apparently, being Donna Noble's soon to be husband had some perks other than the perks John had already enjoyed. Donna returned early the next morning with a carrier bag full of creature comforts: biscuits, decent body gel, hair product, Cadbury flakes courtesy of Josh and a card Ella made herself.<p>

"Did you happen to ring Pete Tyler?," asked John.

"I did and I got a secretary both times," said Donna. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sure someone's taken care of it."

"Donna," he sighed, he still wasn't himself, "I've told you how a Time Lord can regenerate, right?"

"Yeah?"

"There are thousands of species who would love to get their hands on that sort of knowledge, I'm not convinced Torchwood is excluded."

"You don't know that."

"Seriously, Donna, they let Rose Tyler have a Dimension Cannon, I don't know that I entirely trust their judgment."

"What's a Dimension Cannon?"

"A device that allows you to jump from one universe to the other with no rhyme or reason weakening the walls between realities eventually leading to the end of all things."

Donna paused, considering that. "Has she been to university?"

"No."

"Shouldn't there be some kind of licensing exam for that sort of thing?"

"You would think."

"I'm seeing your point." She paused. "Listen, about the wedding... I think we should postpone."

"No!"

"John, you've been shot. You're in hospital. You weren't even conscious for the better part of three days."

"So?"

"I want you to be better. I don't care about the wedding. Well, sort of. I like the cake, but I suppose we can just keep that in the kitchen. And the dress, I do look awfully good in that dress but I can always dye it or wear it to the shops." She smiled at him, only strengthening John's resolve.

"Donna Noble, three weeks from now, I am marrying you. I don't care if you have to wheel me up to the altar."

Donna raised an eyebrow at him. "What about the honeymoon?"

"I'll rally," John said decisively.

"You had better," said Donna. "I didn't book the biggest honeymoon suite in all of Morocco to watch you drool into your pillow. Mind you, I am getting to like the stubble look on you." She brushed her hand across his cheek. "Very sexy. The gunshot wound, not so sexy."

"Women love scars."

Donna shook her head. "Not this one. I like my men without holes in them."

The day saw a parade of Torchwood coworkers come by, later followed by Josh and Ella after school with more drawings that Donna taped up to the wall of the room. Pete Tyler finally arrived as the sun was setting.

"Jackie wanted to know if you got the flowers," said Pete.

"Oh, yeah. Tell her thanks. Listen, it's about the Master's body." He was anxious to get his point across.

"What about it?"

John narrowed his gaze at him. "You need to destroy it, otherwise there are species who will tear apart this planet to get it, not to mention I don't think the Time Lords themselves are probably too keen on the idea of one of their own being dissected."

"Didn't Jack tell you they were in seclusion?," he said avoiding eye contact.

"That doesn't mean they can't come out."

"They cast him aside, what do they care? What do you care?"

"Pete, you have to let me take care of the body."

Pete shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. It's already been handed over to his wife."

John knew Pete was lying through his teeth with that Cheshire grin.

"Right. Of course," said Pete. He looked at his watch. "Well, then, I had better be going. Do call if you need anything."

"I will."

"Feel better."

Pete left, exchanging pleasantries with Donna as he passed her in the doorway. Donna continued in the room to sit on the bed.

"So, he just lied to you, didn't he?," she asked.

"How did you know?"

She shook her head. "Pete Tyler is the worst liar I've ever met. Played him on the poker table at a charity casino night once, I mopped the floor with him." She paused. "This thing with the body. Is it really as dangerous as you say?"

"Yes."

Donna nodded. "Okay, I'm in."

* * *

><p>John stayed in hospital recuperating until the day of the MasterHarry Saxon's funeral. Donna drove John to Bucklebury for the funeral. It seemed to have drawn quite a group, somehow Harry was well-liked in the community. The service was held inside the local church and the Parson did a simple, bland eulogy and readings before the Bucklebury Men's Show Choir began their memorial mashup of "I Can't Decide" and "Wind Beneath My Wings."

Donna leaned over to whisper in John's ear. "I'm not following this at all."

"You had to know him. It almost makes sense."

They sat through the rest of the performance and then the end of the service. John walked with Donna out to follow the procession and he noticed a familiar figure. She was blonde, with delicate features, a waif-ish figure and a quiet smile as she comforted Lucy Saxon. John thought he must have been seeing things, but then he noticed the psychic paper in her hand as she showed it to the Parson.

She was a Time Lady.

She was a Time Lady he knew.

* * *

><p>Donna and John got back in the Land Rover.<p>

"So, they buried him? Is that the end of it?," asked Donna.

John shook his head. "No. Even if they did bury him, the body has to be burned."

"So, what? You want to dig up a grave?"

"Uh..."

"Oh, God, you do."

"I can do this on my own, Donna."

"No," Donna said firmly. "But you need rest first. You're not digging up anything with that hole in you."

"They've stitched it up!"

Donna shot him a look that said protest was useless.

That night, after dusk and while Donna thought he was resting, John took the Land Rover and returned to the cemetery and walked with his cane to the plot where they had laid Harold Saxon/the Master to rest.

And the Time Lady was there, holding a spade.

She smiled.

"So, do you want to tell me who you are? And why you look like my dad?"

John, stood there, completely blown away.

"It's you," he said. "It's really you."

"And you are?," she said.

"I'm just John Smith."

She shook her head. "No. I don't think so."

He grimaced. "I'm the result of a Human Time Lord metacrisis. I have the Doctor's memories, but one heart. I can't regenerate, I can't even see time anymore."

"Doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"I'm from another universe. The Doctor of that universe left me here, it's a long story."

She pot down the spade and stepped forward, close enough to touch John. "Can you show me?"

"No, I can't." He groaned, frustrated at his lack of telepathic ability. "Someone's brain was about to burn up, there was a baby involved and I got left on the beach with his ex-girlfriend. Is that enough? You were always so full of questions, ever since you were a little girl, your first word was why?"

She looked taken aback. "You really do know me."

"I know a version of you. That's all, Mayantha."

"Okay, John. What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I would think."

"The High Council has sent me on a mission to dispose of the Master's body."

"All by yourself?"

"They're not willing to expend a lot of energy on it."

"Same as usual then. Still, I was told the Time Lords were in seclusion. I'm surprised your father let you come on your own."

"He had to. He can't leave Gallifrey for a long time."

"Your brothers couldn't come along?"

She laughed. "All eight were suddenly busy!"

"Eight?," John said with surprise. "And your seven sisters?," he jested.

"Just one sister. She's too young, only fifteen."

"At the Academy, then?"

"Not quite." She nodded at the plot. "Why don't I get digging before the ground hardens? You, have a seat."

"I can help."

She shook her head and pointed at his abdomen. "It seems like a recent wound and I can tell it hurts. I've got this."

John sat and reluctantly watched as Mayantha went to work with the spade. He tried to help but she reminded him that with her superior Time Lady strength it was practically no work at all for her.

"Mayantha, can I ask? What's the Silence?"

She paused in her digging, then resumed, taking her frustration out on the dirt. "The Silence is a gang of thugs, hellbent on taking over the universe. We were at war for forty-five years, probably years before that."

"A Time War then?"

"Yes, and they play dirty. The War Council is meant to be developing a strategy, that's the reason for our seclusion."

"What happened before that?"

"What's the best way to anger the Oncoming Storm?" She shoveled again and hit concrete. "There we are."

John eased his way down into the pit, groaning at his wound. Donna would kill him if he undid any stitches. Mayantha took out her sonic lipstick and set it against the concrete. It made a screeching noise and the concrete burst. John leaned over and opened the walnut casket to find bags of dirt.

"Well, then, as we thought," said John.

Mayantha nodded. "Was it your people? Torchwood?"

"I'm afraid so."

They walked back to the car park and stopped outside a red phone box.

"There was a pub down the road, we could strategize."

Mayantha motioned at the phone box. "Or we could go in here. Come on."

John followed Mayantha into the phone box, which was of course a TARDIS. It seemed smaller somehow, but the interior was all sleek and chromed coral. The console sparkled with newness.

"It's a Type 200 X," explained Mayantha, "just made for one. Not as big as your old Type 40, but then again I didn't have to steal it."

John motioned at a pot of TARDIS coral in the middle. "What's that for?"

"Oh, that's my own experiment. I've been working on it since the Academy. We have teams that cultivate TARDISes, was it the same in your universe?"

"Yes."

"Well, the TARDIS is a sentient thing, it bonds to its inhabitants, but what if you could bond the TARDIS at the neophyte stage to a specific operator? What would happen then?"

"You're growing a custom TARDIS?"

Mayantha nodded. "That's the idea. I'm trying to get someone at the Science Ministry to listen, but they want results and I have to wait for those."

John couldn't help but have pride in the young woman, even though he knew it was completely nonsensical. "I think it's brilliant."

"So, Torchwood? Do you think they're under the influence of the Silence?"

"Could that happen?," asked John.

"The Silence have these creatures, nobody can remember them after they've seen them, not even Time Lords and they influenced the human race through post-hypnotic suggestion for thousands of years and the Doctor stopped all that. That's the first we know about them, but we think they've been at war with us even longer."

"So, they're everywhere and I won't even know if I've seen one."

"Dad resorted to hashmarks on his arm with a marker."

"I'll have to keep a marker around."

"The Silence have wanted to get their hands on a Time Lord forever."

"Do you think they had the Master?"

"They need someone they can control. The Master doesn't fit that description."

"Then don't you run a risk being out here?"

"They want someone they can brainwash from birth." Her gaze turned down.

"Mayantha, tell me, who did they take?"

"First, was the daughter of a companion, conceived in the vortex. Second, was my sister."

"She wasn't born on Gallifrey?"

"No, they took her from Gallifrey. Dad spent twenty years trying to find her and found a scared six year old being raised by monsters. They didn't understand Time Lord brains, they thought they could brainwash a little one."

"Not understanding the mother's residual psychic field." John thought it through, such a child almost certainly would have been driven mad.

"Yeah." Mayantha swallowed.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore."

Mayantha nodded and then forced a smile. "So, how do we get into Torchwood?"

John checked his watch. "I need to be getting home. Donna will have realized I'm gone by now and want to kill me."

"Oh," said Mayantha. "Where should I meet you then?"

"You're just going to be all alone out here?," asked John.

"What? Should I check in to a hotel?"

"No, you just must feel lonely, the only Time Lord on the outside."

She shook her head. "I'm fine. It's just temporary."

"You're not fine. I bet you can't sleep."

"I'll sleep when I'm home."

John walked over. "I know it's not the same, but I'd like you to stay with my family and I. Ever stayed with humans?"

"No," she admitted.

"It's interesting. Lot of running around, a lot of telly. Cakes with edible ball bearings. You'll have fun."


	12. Like Humans

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. Anyway, I'm sorry for the delay in updates. I've been fighting a migraine for a few days so I'm trying to catch up. Thanks again for all the reads and reviews and follows and please let me know what you think of this one.

* * *

><p>Donna was furious but maybe not surprised when she went upstairs to find that John was not in bed as promised. She could guess at where he was, probably digging up a grave in Bucklebury. She thought this was truly another instance in which they needed another car so she could follow him and slap him.<p>

God, why was she so interested in slapping people lately? It was if she had slapped Ethan once and some switch had turned on inside her brain!

Before she could ponder this much more, she heard the front door open and hurried downstairs.

"Where did you go?," shouted Donna as she came downstairs.

She saw John and a new blonde she didn't recognize.

"John," she said.

"Donna, this is Mayantha."

"Hi," said Donna. She looked behind them. "Where did that armoire come from?"

"That's my ship," said Mayantha.

Donna looked again at the ornate wooden armoire that had blended in seamless with the rest of the furniture in the sitting room. "Your ship?"

"Right. Mayantha is a Time Lady, the eldest daughter of the Doctor of this universe. She's on a mission from the High Council of the Time Lords to dispose of the Master's body. I thought she could stay with us."

Donna shook her head. "She's your daughter?"

"No," said John.

"But she's like your daughter."

"I can stay somewhere else if it's too much trouble," said Mayantha. "I don't mind. Really."

"No," said Donna. "You'll be fine here. We have plenty of rooms. I'm just trying to work my head around it. Am I like her stepmother?"

"Well, yes and no, but then again, yes," said John.

"Parallel worlds are gingerbread houses," said Mayantha.

"I say that," said John.

Mayantha nodded and smiled. "Yes, that's where I got it."

Donna looked at Mayantha. "Okay, I've got two kids, though. They don't understand parallel universes."

"They don't?," asked Mayantha. She looked truly confused.

"Humans. They don't start explaining quantum mechanics until the university level," said John.

"They don't? That's awful. It was my favorite part of nursery school. And the cupcakes."

"You mean the blue ones with the goo?"

"Yes!"

John nodded, catching Donna's still puzzled countenance. "To Josh and Ella and anyone else, let's just say you're my niece here to visit."

"Okay. Uncle John."

Donna nodded, satisfied with the plan. "Suppose I'm Auntie Donna then. Right, let's go eat something."

Donna, John and Mayantha went to the kitchen. Mayantha explained about the mission from the High Council of the Time Lords, her family back on Gallifrey and as much as she could. She got up to fetch something and Donna leaned in to John.

"So, she's the counterpart of your daughter?"

"Yes," John said quietly.

"She's lovely."

"Yes," John agreed.

Mayantha returned and put a pill in John's hand.

"What's that?," asked Donna.

"It should take care of that gunshot wound," said Mayantha as she resumed her seat. "There's no need for you to just walk around injured like..."

"Like a human?," he asked.

Mayantha shrugged. John swallowed the pill and washed it down with some tea.

"Well, Mayantha, suppose you've had a long day," said Donna. "You must have travelled far."

"I suppose," she smiled.

"We had all better be off to bed, then," said Donna. "Some of us should have been in bed hours ago," she said frowning at John.

"Right, sorry."

Donna looked over at Mayantha again. "I'll show you to your room."

* * *

><p>John woke up late the next morning, but felt a million times better than he had the day before. He found he didn't even need the cane anymore. He examined the spot where the gunshot wound had been in the bathroom mirror and found it was completely gone. Not even a scar. The staples from the incision were rising out of his skin on their own and he managed to finish pulling them out with a pair of tweezers.<p>

He went downstairs and joined Donna, Josh and Ella in the kitchen with Mayantha. He could tell right away that Ella was quite taken with her, but more surprisingly she had managed to entrance Josh by telling a story about stopping a comet from hitting a colony on a small moon.

"But how do you stop a comet?," asked Josh.

Mayantha shrugged. "Easy."

"That can't be real, can it?," asked Josh.

"I don't know, Josh. Do you think it's real?" She looked up at John. "Good morning, Uncle."

"Good morning," John said, taking his seat.

"How did you sleep?," asked Donna.

"Very well." He looked at Mayantha. "I'm feeling much better today, thank you."

Donna looked at Mayantha. "What was that thing anyway?," she queried.

"Just one little pill, designed to speed up the healing process. Simple. We hardly ever use them, though. Mostly for companions."

"Companion?," asked Donna.

"Sometimes we take along a non-Time Lord on our travels," said Mayantha. "That person is usually referred to as a companion."

"Did your father have a lot?," John suddenly heard himself saying.

Mayantha nodded. "A fair number."

Before John could follow up, the doorbell rang. Ella leapt from her chair and went running towards it.

"What was that?," asked Mayantha.

"Oh, Lord," said Donna, "that's the wedding clothes. Ella is the flower girl and is dying to try on her dress again."

Josh groaned. "Do I have to try on that stupid outfit again?"

"Yes," said Donna.

"I already tried it at the shop!," he protested.

"You may have grown since then and besides, you don't look stupid. You look very handsome."

Josh groaned and stalked out of the room.

Donna sighed. "That's too bad. We had a good couple of hours there with Mayantha where he didn't so much as grumble."

"What's a Flower Girl?," asked Mayantha.

"Right," said John, "some humans in western cultures have small children in the ceremony as a symbol of fertility-"

"In this case it's literal, as they're mine," snorted Donna. Mayantha smiled at the joke.

"Anyway, the flower girl walks down the aisle tossing flower petals in path of the bride."

"Oh," said Mayantha.

"What are weddings like on Gallifrey?," asked Donna.

Mayantha thought. "A lot of telepathy, a lot of standing around, then bad food usually."

"You forgot the funny hats," said John.

"Right and funny hats."

Lisette entered. "The dresses are here."

"Thank you, Lisette." Donna stood up. "I had better go try mine on."

"May I see?," asked Mayantha.

"Sure. Come on," said Donna.

* * *

><p>Mayantha sat on the edge of the bed in awe of the dress Donna had on. There was a huge skirt with layers of taffeta, which was Ella's preference not Donna's. There was a v-neck, she had surprised herself by choosing strapless, but there was a corset in the back to cinch in and pull things up where they needed to be. She looked in the mirror, surveying the look, trying to decide if anything was amiss.<p>

"I've never seen anything like it," said Mayantha.

"No wedding dresses on Gallifrey?"

Mayantha shook her head. "Nothing this grand. And we wear red, nobody has a clue why and that is saying something."

"Well, white is supposed to symbolize purity, again a moot point."

"So, you were married before?"

"Yeah, God help me."

"Did he die?"

"No, we divorced."

Mayantha seemed surprised. "Oh, you can do that?"

Donna was even more surprised. "You can't?"

"We regenerate so if they let Time Lords divorce people would be doing it all the time and having weddings all the time."

"If I had to stay married to Ethan, I would have killed him."

Ella ran in with Lisette following her. She had on her dress, a tiered white affair with a pink sash.

"Ella, you look beautiful!," said Donna.

Mayantha nodded. "You're very pretty."

Ella spun around. "I have a tiara too! I'm going to have my hair up! Just like a princess!" She stopped spinning and looked at Mayantha. "Are you coming to the wedding?"

"I don't know," she answered, "I may have to go home before that."

"Well, if you are here, you're more than welcome to come. We would love to have you."

Mayantha smiled.

And then they heard an explosion in the distance.

* * *

><p>Mayantha ran downstairs and to the front hallway. The door was ajar, she rushed out to the street where she saw John standing. There was a ship in the distance, hovering over the Senate Houses at Westminster, nicking Big Ben.<p>

"Why can't they ever not hit Big Ben?," asked John. "Every time! I mean, it's a big clock, you'd think they'd see it!"

"Sontarans," she said.

"Yes," answered John. "Are they all still clones in this universe?"

"Yes." She paused. "This isn't their style, though. They should have landed ground troops by now."

They heard a loud sonic boom and another huge ship swooped in over their heads, firing at the Sontaran ship over Westminster. They looked at each other.

"Krillitane," they said in unison.

They ran back in the house just as Donna was coming down, pulling a top over her head, having changed out of the wedding gown. Ella and Josh weren't far behind her.

"John, what is it?"

"Is it aliens?," Josh asked brightly. "Are we being invaded?"

"Mummy..." cried Ella, throwing her arms around Donna's waist.

"Yes, it's aliens-" said John.

"That's so cool!," said Josh.

"And no we're not being invaded, not yet anyway," said John. "There are two species out there, fighting for salvage rights over the Master's body."

"With us stuck in the middle?," asked Donna. "Well, isn't that just brilliant?"

John's mobile rang.

"I suppose that's Pete Tyler asking you to save his ass," said Donna.

John looked. "That would be correct."

Donna nodded. "Okay, what do we do?"

"Stay indoors," said John. "Go down to the cellar and just wait there."

"And if some people with potato heads come in, don't fight them," added Mayantha.

"What?," asked Donna.

"John, can't we go with you?," asked Ella.

He knelt down to look her in the eye. "My Ella, you are going to be so much safer here. Do as your mother says, everything will be alright."

Mayantha spoke again. "And if you run into some people who look like bats, don't eat anything they fry."

"Okay, seriously, what?," asked Donna.

"Also, they eat people sometimes," added Mayantha.

"Oh, my God," said Donna.

"This is so wizard!," said Josh.

"I don't want to be eaten!," cried Ella, sobbing into Donna's hip.

John looked at Mayantha. "Okay, I think we can stop giving information now."

"Too much?," she asked.

"Yeah, a little."


	13. Monsters of All Shapes

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, anything. Sorry for the delay, especially if you're following both stories. It has seriously not been my week healthwise. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews and I hope you enjoy this one. Please let me know what you think!

* * *

><p>Adeola, Gwen, Jack and Bernard had gathered in the situation room in the Torchwood Extraterrestrial Department. The entire staff buzzed around outside. Torchwood was on full alert, the city was on lockdown as the alien ships continued to buzz above London, sometimes taking out a landmark.<p>

"Two new ships for the Krillitanes," said Adeola, still getting comfortable with saying the word.

"Three more with the Sonatarans," said Gwen.

"Have we gotten John on the phone yet?"

Just then, they looked up to see John and a blonde walking out of a large locker.

A grin spread across Jack's face. "Mayantha of Gallifrey! As I live and breathe!"

Mayantha shook her head. "Commander Jack Harkness. There's trouble and here you are. Why am I not surprised?"

"Sorry, did you two just walk out of a supplies cabinet?," asked Gwen.

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous," said John.

"John, what's going on?," asked Bernard.

John motioned at Mayantha. "She's a Time Lady."

"And what's she doing here?," asked Bernard.

"What am I doing on Earth or what am I doing here?," asked Mayantha.

"She can help," said John. "That's what's important."

Just then, Pete Tyler entered.

"John, I've been trying get you on your mobile! Where have you been?" He looked at Mayantha. "Who is she?"

"Hi. Mayantha. Are you the guy that tried to keep the Master's body for himself?"

Pete stiffened. "I don't know what you mean."

"Right, see, this is how it's going to work," said John, "Mayantha and I are going to save the Earth from the Sontarans and the Krillitane. Assuming we manage that, she'll need the Master's body."

"You tried to keep his body?," asked Jack incredulous.

"What does that mean?," asked Adeola.

"It means if the two races dogfighting over London don't kill us all, the Time Lords will."

Everyone looked at Pete.

"I can't talk about this. It's classified."

"Pete!," exclaimed John.

"I'm terribly sorry," said Mayantha, "I'm not following."

"Oh, blimey, she sounds like her mother," John muttered.

"You see, I've been sent on a mission by the High Council of the Time Lords to recover and dispose of the Master's body. If you had disposed of it yourself, your planet wouldn't be facing certain conquest and or destruction right now. So, either help me or get out of my way."

"What are you? Twenty?," asked Pete.

"I'm four hundred and two."

"I'm sorry," said Gwen, "are they fighting over a bloody corpse?"

"We have a charter to uphold," said Pete.

"Good, we can all have a nice look at it as the Earth burns," said John.

Mayantha pointed at Pete. "Hey, were you the guy who let that one girl blow holes in the universe?"

"How did you know about that?," asked John.

"We do have dominion over all of time and space. Holes get blown in the universe, we tend to notice."

The building shook. Everyone grasped onto something for balance.

"Oh, lovely," said Mayantha, "the ground troops."

"We have to get down there," said John.

"There will already be troops on the way," said Pete.

"What? You can't do that! You can't fight Sontarans!," shouted John. "You're going to get everyone killed! All for your stupid charter!"

"Look, John, you still work for me and you'll follow my orders."

"I don't work here," said Mayantha. "I don't actually work anywhere."

"Sorry," said Jack, "I know I didn't get out of my cell all that long ago, but I don't want to die because I'm following your orders. John, Mayantha, I'm with you."

Mayantha looked at John. "Usually about now you have an idea."

"I'm not the Doctor."

"So, you don't have ideas?"

John sighed and looked back at the table. Pete Tyler glowered.

"Well, I might have one idea. Jack, Mayantha, allons-y to the morgue." He paused. "That doesn't really have a ring to it, does it?"

* * *

><p>Donna sat in the cellar with the children and Lisette. She wished she had bothered to put some sort of emergency preparation down here. Mostly it served as the gathering point for old furniture and things she meant to give to charity. Ella curled up next to her on an old sofa. Lisette played with Josh and his collection of action figures.<p>

"Everything's going to be fine, sweetheart. You'll see," said Donna.

"I'm scared."

"I know. That's alright. Mummy is right here with you."

"What's that?," asked Lisette.

Donna stopped and listened.

There were footsteprs

"Mummy," said Ella.

"Mum." Now Josh was looking at her.

"It's going to be fine," said Donna.

She got up and foraged in the boxes, finding an old set of golf clubs. She walked to the cellar door and waited as she heard footsteps approaching.

"The door opened and she raised her arm to strike and just as she was about to make contact she realized it wasn't an alien coming through the cellar door.

It was bloody Ethan.

"Jesus, Donna! What do you think you're doing?"

"What do I think I'm doing? What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's my weekend."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I thought I'd take the kids to the cinema."

Donna looked back at her children, who were holding on to Lisette. She looked back at Ethan.

"Did you happen to notice the alien ships in the sky?"

"Oh, is that what that is?"

"You're not taking them anywhere. They're staying here where it's safe."

"You never let me have them. The other weekend with the monster rubbish, then you were too busy because your boyfriend got shot, now aliens. Really, Donna."

Donna crossed her arms. "My children are staying with me."

Ethan looked at the twins. "Josh, Ella, get your stuff."

Both of them looked at Donna.

"I want to stay with Mummy," said Ella.

Ethan groaned. "Fine. Josh, you're not scared, right? Get your stuff."

Donna thought she would once again have to be the bad parent, but she was surprised.

"No, I'm staying with Mum," said Josh.

Donna looked at him in shock. He quickly followed up with. "Just to make sure she's safe, you know."

"This is nonsense, come on."

He headed towards the kids, Donna put herself between him and them.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?," asked Donna. "Have you gone completely mad?"

"I'm taking my kids!"

"Ethan, no."

"Don't try to stop me, Donna."

"What is wrong with you?"

Ethan shoved Donna aside, nearly pushing her to the floor. She regained her balance as Ethan grabbed Josh's wrist.

"Mr. Croft, please, no!," protested Lisette.

"Get your hands off him," said Donna tightly.

"Dad, you're hurting me!," said Josh.

Donna grabbed Ethan by the back of his top and kicked him in the shin as she had once done to an unruly Tottenham fan. He cried out in pain, releasing Josh's wrist. She put herself back between him and the children who were now both crying.

"Get the hell out of my house!"

"What are you going to do about it, Donna? They're my children! I have a right to see them!"

Donna shook her head. "You're leaving. Now!"

Donna suddenly realized that Ethan's hands were around her neck. She tried to pry them off, but things seemed to be happening in slow motion, but that wasn't making them easier. She realized Lisette's hands were around Ethan's wrists, trying to pull him off and that Josh was pounding his fists into Ethan. She heard Ella's awful primal scream behind her.

"The monster! The monster!," she screamed.

It didn't make sense, but Donna didn't focus on it. She had to work out how to get out of this, but suddenly Ethan let her go. She worked to catch her breath, still feeling dizzy as Josh wrapped himself around her hips.

She realized Ella was still screaming. Donna looked up at Ethan.

"Get the hell out of my house before I kill you."

Ethan didn't say anything, he just turned around and left.

"I'm sorry, Mum," said Josh.

"Shh, sweetheart. What are you sorry for? You've done nothing wrong."

"I couldn't stop him," he said.

Donna shook her head. "That's alright. It's not your job to protect me, I protect you."

"Are you alright?," asked Lisette. "Should I call a doctor?"

"I'll be fine," said Donna. She looked back at Ella, who was crying against the wall.

Donna hurried over and peeled her off the wall. "Come here, Ella. Mummy's alright."

Ella sobbed into Donna. "The monster. The monster was here!"

"Hush, he's gone now."

* * *

><p>The storage locker materialized in front of the Sontaran soldiers as they marched towards the sublevel where the Master's body was being stored.<p>

"A TARDIS!," shouted the commander.

The door opened. John stepped out.

"Oh! Sontarans! Brilliant! It's been a while since I've seen you lot!"

Suddenly, he heard the scream of the Krillitane as they flew down the corridor, stopping just on the other side of Mayantha's TARDIS.

"Oi! We can't hear anything over you lot! I'm trying to speak! Now shut it!"

The Krillitanes quieted.

"So, suppose you lot want the Master's body, right?"

"You can't intimidate us, Doctor," said the Sontaran commander.

"The secret of the Time Lords will be ours!," shouted what John assumed was the head Krillitane. It was hard to tell.

"Time Lord immortality will be the prize of the Sontarans!"

"Yeah, yeah," said John, "now I'm willing to let you have what you want, but then you two have to decide how you're going to share it."

"The Sontarans will not share this glory!"

"Nor will we!"

John shrugged. "Oh, well, just one thing left to do."

Jack dragged out the Master's body. "Hello, everyone!," he said cheerfully depositing the body on the ground.

"Oh, this is my friend, Jack. Does everyone know Jack?," asked John.

Mayantha came out with a barrel.

"And this is Mayantha! Do we all know Mayantha?"

"Hello, everyone," she said with a smile. "Anyone want to guess what this is?," she asked taking the lid off the barrel.

An explosive timer beeped on the side.

"You will not scare us with your puny human technology!," said the Sontaran.

"Well, it's not exactly human. Fun fact about the new model TARDISes, did you know they can replicate any substance they happen to get a sample of? Whole wide universe!," said John.

"Another fun fact," added Mayantha, "did you know last time I met the Krillitanes, I got a sample of their oil? My mum thought I should dispose of it, but my dad the hoarder said not to."

"I am not a hoarder!," said John.

"Anyway," said Jack, "this barrel is attached to a highly flammable explosive set to go off in..."

"About thirty seconds," Mayantha finished.

"Right, so, we're off then," said John.

The three rushed back in the TARDIS and John locked the door. Mayantha set it to dematerialize just as they heard the explosion. They arrived back at the conference room and came out.

"They're leaving," said Gwen.

"Not exactly the most dignified burial for a Time Lord," said Jack.

"The Master would have appreciated it. You'll find the Krillitanes and Sontarans will stay away." John shrugged. "No prize, no glory, no point. Plus, they're afraid of incurring the wrath of the Time Lords," he said. He looked to Bernard.

"Well done, John. Really."

"But?," asked John.

"Pete wants to see you."

"I bet he does." John looked at Mayantha. "I'll just be a few minutes.'

* * *

><p>John made the trek up to Pete Tyler's office and went past the secretary, even as she called for him to stop.<p>

"What?," said John.

"What?," Pete said insulted.

"I told you not to keep the Master's body and you did. You tried to keep it instead of saving the Earth, so yes, I disobeyed orders. I don't even know what that means 'orders.' I'm not your slave, I'm not anyone's slave. If something needs done, I'm doing it."

"I'm afraid that's not how it works, John."

"No, how it works is you do something unreasonable and I clean it up for you when it backfires."

Pete took a long breath. "I think it would be best if you took a break from Torchwood."

"Yeah, just until next time the Earth needs saving. See if you can manage that, like the time you saved the universes. Oh, wait was that someone else?"

John didn't wait for the reproach, he just left.

* * *

><p>The reaction at the Torchwood extraterrestrial department ranged from shock to disgust to Gwen saying they should each grab a golf club out of Bernard's office and show Pete Tyler a thing or two.<p>

Oddly, she didn't find supporters of that plan. When she suggested downgrading the plan to slashing the tires on his Lexus, nobody said no until she started looking for a knife.

"He can't do that!," said Gwen.

"I'll speak with him, John," said Bernard.

"No, it's fine," said John as he collected his things off his desk.

"You can't go. You're the only one here who actually knows anything about aliens," said Adeola.

"Hey," said Jack.

"You know, the only one who's not a sex addict," said Gwen.

"I appreciate all that," said John. "Really, I do."

"You're coming back. I'll see to it," said Bernard.

John nodded and went back in Mayantha's TARDIS.

"So, sacked," said Mayantha. "I've never been sacked."

"Neither have I," said John. "Then again, I never had a job."

"Home then?," asked Mayantha.

"Suppose so?"

Mayantha looked at her watch. "I need to go to Gallifrey soon or I'll miss my window."

"Oh," said John, feeling a twinge of sorrow.

"I'll come say goodbye first," she said with a smile.

* * *

><p>Josh watched the news reports about the alien invasion in the sitting room and tossed aside the cold compress Lisette had given him for his wrist. He knew his mum and Lisette were trying to distract him as they did every time there was bad news. He looked up to see that new armoire had appeared again and John and Mayantha stepped out of it.<p>

"Oh, Josh, right, we were just..."

John found he couldn't think of a good reason why he and Mayantha would have been in an armoire for hours. He found he didn't have to as he realized Josh's arms were wrapped around his waist.

"Joshua? What's going on, mate?"

Josh didn't look up. "Dad was here and he was really angry and he tried to kill Mum."

"What?," exclaimed John. "Donna!"

John rushed upstairs. Josh looked at Mayantha.

"You like stars, don't you?," asked Mayantha.

"Yeah, I've got a telescope."

Mayantha nodded. "Well, you haven't seen them through mine."

Josh grinned.

* * *

><p>John found Donna in Ella's room. Ella was on the bed, looking positively catatonic as Donna gently massaged her back.<p>

"Donna, what the hell happened?"

She shushed him as she looked up from Ella. John knelt down to Ella.

"Sweetheart, are you okay?"

"The monster..." she said.

"You're fine," said John. "I'm back and I promise nothing will hurt you."

Donna kissed her on the head. "I'm going to go with John for a bit. We'll be just down the hall, okay?"

Ella didn't answer. Donna motioned for John to follow her out.

With the door to the master bedroom safely shut, Donna collapsed against John.

"You're alright," said John. "Just tell me what happened."

She groaned. "I don't know. In the middle of everything Ethan showed up and wanted to take the children for the weekend!"

"What?"

"I wasn't about to let them go."

"Of course not."

"And they didn't want to! They were frightened, even Josh didn't want to go and I told him to go and he choked me!"

"Choked you?" John gingerly moved her chin up and saw fingerprints starting to bruise around her neck.

"I'm fine now. Really." She shook her head. "My poor babies. Josh tried to fight him off and Ella wouldn't stop screaming!" She looked up at John. "John?"

"I'm going to go see him," said John.

"What? No."

"I wasn't here today and I'm sorry, but I'm going to make certain he understands that he can't do that."

"John, I will take care of it! I have scary attorneys! One of them is a very angry lesbian who is just dying for a chance to ruin a man's life."

"No, that's not enough!"

"Don't you bloody dare! I swear to God, I'll kill you." She smacked him on the arm. "Who do you think you are? Rambo?"

John sighed. "I want to help!"

She took his face in her hands. "You're better than that," Donna said simply. "Besides, you saved Earth, didn't you? I think that's more than enough heroics for one day."

"I got sacked."

"Sacked?," exclaimed Donna. "Am I mistaken? Are we all actually dead? We're all still here."

"We are."

"So, what did you get sacked for?"

"Being clever so far as I can tell."

Donna shook her head. "Don't worry. It won't last. They can't do anything without you, but I think they can wait until after the honeymoon."

John smiled at that thought and had a glance out the window where he saw Mayantha and Josh in the back garden.

"What is she doing?," he said.

"What?," asked Donna.

"She's going to miss her window to get home," said John. "When Time Lords go into seclusion, they really go blocking all access to the planet. They gave her a small opening to come home during."

John hurried downstairs and into the back garden.

Mayantha sat next to Josh with a large telescope, set up on the grass.

"See anything?," she asked.

Josh shook his head. "Wait. No. I see two stars. Right together!"

John approached. "Mayantha, what are you doing? You'll miss your window."

"I'm fine. There's another one in a month. Besides, I'm not missing it. I'm using it." She looked at her wristwatch and then at Josh. "Keep your eye on it."

Donna came out. "What's going on?"

"Seriously, Mayantha, your mother will kill me if I keep you," said John.

"I'll explain it was my idea."

"She won't believe you!"

Donna sat next to Josh. "What are you looking at?"

"I don't know. Wait! What's that?," Josh exclaimed.

"Big red circle?," asked Mayantha.

"Yeah."

"That's Gallifrey."

"But how can you see that on a telescope?," asked Donna. She looked at John. "You told me it was billions of miles away."

"The telescope is dimensionally transcendental, like my ship," said Mayantha, "the eyepiece is here, but the lens is at another point in space and time."

"Oh, Time Lords, what will they think of next?," joked Donna.

"How does it disappear like that?," asked Josh.

"Perception filter."

"May I have a look?," asked Donna.

"Yeah," said Mayantha, gently moving Josh out of the way.

Donna looked. It was amazing, like she could reach out and touch the red soil so much more detailed than when her grandfather had shown her the stars when she was a little girl. She sat back up and looked at John.

"You should have a look," said Donna.

John shook his head. "No, I couldn't..."

"Why not?," asked Donna.

John froze. It was just a memory to him, it shouldn't have existed and the last time that he had seen it or rather had the memory of seeing it, it was burning. That last horrible day.

"You should decide soon," said Mayantha.

"Go ahead," said Donna, her hand over his.

John took a breath and looked in the telescope.

There it was. As he remembered it. Hanging safely in the sky as if nothing had happened to it, because of course, nothing had happened to it. It wasn't his Gallifrey, not really, not that he'd really ever had a Gallifrey. It was some other Doctor's Gallifrey.

Yet there it was, hanging in the sky.

There it was.

Then it disappeared. John sat back.

"Sorry," said Mayantha, "the window closed."

Donna rubbed John's back and then looked at Mayantha. "Now, don't you care about worrying your poor mother? If this one's any indication, the poor woman must be riddled with stress."

Mayantha smiled. "She gives as good as she gets. Sort of like you."

"Oi, watch your mouth, you cheeky girl."

"I'm four hundred and two," protested Mayantha.

Donna shook her head. "Like I care." She looked at Josh. "Let's go inside, sweetheart. It's been a long day and Lisette should be finished with your supper by now."

* * *

><p>"No John at Torchwood," Jack mused at the pub where he and Gwen were have a late dinner. "Adeola's right. He's the only one who knows what he's doing."<p>

Gwen shook her head. "I don't even want to work there without John. If it hadn't been for him it would still be Rose Tyler messing about and screwing things up."

"Who is Rose Tyler anyway?"

"Well, as I understand it, in the universe John came from, she thinks she's the love of the Doctor's life. Didn't care that he got married and was having a baby."

Jack shook his head. "Glad I never met her."

"Apparently her big accomplishment was absorbing the Time Vortex, whatever that means."

Jack snorted as he took a sip of his pint. "It's like staring at the sun too long."

"Oh, well, that explains some things..." Gwen looked up. "Oh, God, speak of the devil!"

Gwen motioned and Jack saw a brunette woman in a dark pantsuit sitting next to a man with two many buttons on his shirt undone.

"She looks familiar," said Jack.

"She's dyed her hair, you know, from when she dyed it blonde."

"Who's the guy?"

Gwen shook her head. "Don't know. Rich from the looks of him. Poor unlucky bastard."

Jack looked at Gwen. "Speaking of lucky..."

"Oh, good, I thought you had forgotten to come on to me."

"Come on, Gwen. You at least owe me a shot."

"I don't even know if you're any good!"

"Then you should find out!," he grinned.

Gwen sighed. "Fine. You get one shag, but just so you'll shut up."

Jack stood and pulled Gwen's chair out for her. She stood up and thought she saw something by Rose and the man, but then she didn't.

"Gwen, why are you breathing so fast?," asked Jack. "We haven't even started yet."

"Oh, God, I'm going to regret this, I can tell."


	14. A Journey Starts A Story

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. Thanks for the reads and reviews, I do love hearing from you all. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. Also. I suppose I should warn of forthcoming Series Six spoilers. I don't know why you haven't seen it, come on, and obviously this is another universe, but I don't want you if you have for some reason not seen Series Six seeing it later and going, "What? Why didn't that girl warn me?" And of course it's going to play out differently.

* * *

><p>Donna came downstairs to the kitchen to find John making breakfast for Josh, Ella and Mayantha. She shook her head at the sight.<p>

"I don't know why that still amazes me, but it does," she said giving John a kiss.

"Gross!," cried Josh.

"Oi, pipe down," said John. "You ought to be expecting a lot more of that."

Donna smiled and sat between her children. She looked at Ella. "Are you feeling better, sweetheart?"

"Yes," she said in a way that convinced no one.

"You're going to spend the whole day with John," said Donna. "You three have to show Mayantha around London and take her to all your favorite places."

"You're going to work?," asked Josh.

"For a little while. Then I have to meet Auntie Nerys and do some things for the wedding."

"We don't have to see Dad, do we?," asked Josh.

Donna realized Ella was also staring at her. "No, sweetheart."

"I don't want to," said Josh.

Donna nodded. "Well, I need to get going. Kisses!" Nobody moved, so Donna kissed Josh, then Ella. John followed her out.

"I'm worried about Ella," said Donna. "She's never been like this."

John shrugged. "She's never been through something like this. She'll bounce back."

"Well, I'm going to find someone for her to talk to. Such a bloody big week, the wedding, dealing with Ethan and now my mum's decided to land her zeppelin to actually come to the wedding."

"Your mother?," squeaked John.

Donna's face dropped. "Oh, God, you've met her, haven't you? In that other universe?"

"Well, yes, but she could be different here."

Donna nodded. "Okay, then, Did the Sylvia in the other universe like to constantly nag Donna and ask what she was doing with her life? Why did she divorce that handsome man?"

John nodded. "Everything except that last sentence and it was replaced by 'What are you doing with that awful man?'."

"Oh, that will be you then," smiled Donna. She gave him a kiss. "I'm seeing my lawyers, I'll be back in plenty of time for dinner. You go have fun with the kids."

"Mayantha's four hundred and two."

"Which is why you shouted 'Oi! Eyes!' to that waiter last night. And yes, I've heard the whole, not my daughter, not from my universe bit, but I know better."

Mayantha came in. "John, I'm sorry. I actually have an errand to run today."

"An errand? What errand could you possibly have?"

She sighed. "I told you about my dad's companions? The ones whose daughter was taken?"

"Yes."

"I promised Dad I would see them if I could. They live in this village called Leadworth."

"Leadworth?"

"It's in the Midlands or something. I know you all have plans so I can just go and come back."

"Where's Mayantha going?," asked Josh.

"She has to go visit some friends, Josh," said John.

"Can't we go with her?"

John took a glance at the TARDIS armoire. No way would Donna approve of her children in a TARDIS. "No, I don't think so."

Josh didn't like hearing no. "Why not? How's she going? Where's her car?"

"The car," said John. He looked at Mayantha. "We could take the car."

"You mean we would drive there and actually pass through distances and the time would go in order?," asked Mayantha.

"Come on. Everyone should try it once. Ella!"

* * *

><p>They piled into the Land Rover and after a quick stop at the petrol station for sweets and drinks, they were on the motorway.<p>

"So, you just go and go..." said Mayantha, staring at the landscape as they flew by.

"Yeah," said John.

"It's like when Grandfather takes you into the mountains..."

"Wait, my father?," asked John. "He's still alive?" John glanced back in the rearview mirror at Josh who was reasonably wondering what that meant. "Never mind us. We're talking nonsense."

"Yeah, he's still alive," said Mayantha. "Still going into the mountains."

"When I was a boy, he used to take your mother, the Master and I, back before we went to the Academy."

"Same here," said Mayantha. "Grandmother despairs of it." She looked in the backseat. "Do you two have televisions back there?"

"Yeah," said Josh.

"What am I doing in the front?," she said incredulous.

"You're a grown up," said Ella.

"Yeah, actually, you're the most grown up of anyone in the car," said John with a grin. "Of course, I suppose I'm the least grown up of anyone in the car. Why are you three letting me drive?"

Josh and Ella giggled.

They rode the rest of the way to the Midlands and Mayantha directed John to a small cottage.

"Where are we?," asked Josh.

"This is my friend's house," said Mayantha. She looked at John. "I should go on my own."

"I'll be right here," said John.

Mayantha got out of the car and walked to the front door. John watched as she knocked, waited and a man answered the door.

He didn't look pleased to see her, that was for certain. Mayantha tried to get him to talk, but all John could see was a lot of head shaking until he finally slammed the door in her face.

Mayantha got back in the car and shut the door.

"That didn't go well," said John.

"No," said Mayantha.

"Is that it then?"

"I have to try to talk to his wife."

"Yeah."

"Should be just in town."

"Okay."

They went into Leadworth and found what John thought must be the only restaurant in town. They had lunch and went for a walk around the village, where they finally found a small park. Josh and Ella ran to play as John and Mayantha sat on the bench.

"So, the companion. What's his name?"

"Jeff Angelo."

"And he was the one whose child was taken?"

"He was her father."

"How long has it been?"

"It's been five years for them since she was taken and four years for them since my father delivered the news that she was dead."

"The Silence killed her?"

"No. He did."

John looked at Mayantha in surprise. She looked back at him and drew a deep breath.

"It's a long story."

John shrugged "I have time."


	15. Battling Demons

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna who really isn't in this chapter, Amy, Jeff. You remember Jeff, right? For like two minutes in The Eleventh Hour? Also, I borrowed a lot from Moffatt this chapter, I do that a lot. Lots of Series 6 spoilers, but I'm not going step by step so... Oh, thanks for the reads and reviews again and I haven't said hello lurkers in a while so let me do that. Hello, lurkers! Please enjoy and let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>The Doctor bounded back into the TARDIS, red Chuck Taylors bouncing as he walked. Amy and Jeff were right behind him.<p>

"The girl in the spacesuit. It's all about her! Who is she?"

The Doctor looked back at Jeff and Amy and casually stepped behind the TARDIS monitor.

"Or you know, we could just go on adventures. Who's in the mood for some adventures? I am! That and a piece of banana cake, I know this place in the year five billion that makes the most-"

The Oracle cleared her throat behind him.

The Doctor looked back at the Oracle. In her fourth incarnation, she was a good deal shorter than him, not that it bothered the Doctor. It was incredibly hard to get regenerations to match up. She had long dark brown hair, a porcelain complexion and the most striking blue eyes. Those eyes were currently trained on him along with her perturbed pursed lips, possibly the only thing betraying her age.

"Right. It's been a long day. Jeff. Amy. Why don't you go find your rooms?"

"Uh, we're married now," said Amy. "You do know we share a room?"

The Oracle snorted. "Wait three hundred years. You'll soon get over that."

Jeff and Amy were soon off. The Doctor looked back at the Oracle.

"Pregnancy scan," said the Oracle. "Want to share?"

"I don't know."

"Did you run a diagnostic?"

"Of course I did!"

She sighed and leaned back against the railing around the console. "I'll rephrase. Do you know how to run a diagnostic?"

"I know how to maintain my ship, thank you."

"Fine, try it on me."

The Doctor sighed. He ran it.

"Not pregnant."

"So, it works then," said the Oracle. "Now any guesses as to why it would do that or should I call tech support?"

"I do not need tech support."

"Yeah, that's why the swimming pool is in the library."

He shrugged. "It's fun, though, isn't it?"

"Doctor!"

"Sorry."

"Do you want my best guess?" She stepped forward. "Amy is pregnant and for some reason the TARDIS scanner is uncertain about it. The girl in the spacesuit is her daughter."

The Doctor was flabbergasted. "What? Really?"

She threw her arms up. "You mean that didn't occur to you? How could that not occur to you? Why would you have sent the envelopes then?"

"How do you know I sent the envelopes?"

She held up the TARDIS blue envelope they had received and rolled her eyes. "There's a banana smear on the back."

"Oh."

"So, what's the plan? Are we just going to act like nothing's wrong and then we go on ridiculous adventures to... I don't know. It could be anything with you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Some pirates, a cryptic TARDIS giving clues with a mouth and a bunch of Gangers later...<strong>_

* * *

><p>Jeff helped Amy into the TARDIS as they left the press conference behind.<p>

"Contractions? What do you mean contractions?," said Jeff.

The Doctor drew a deep breath. "Oh, you should have married the nurse. Contractions! She's having a baby!"

"What? No, Jeff, I can't be," said Amy.

"We needed to see the Flesh in its early days," said the Oracle, approaching with the Sonic Screwdriver. "That's why he scanned it, still doesn't bloody explain why he had to touch it!"

"More to the point, I needed enough information to block the signal."

"What signal?," asked Jeff.

"The one that's been following us through time and space," said the Oracle. "Even outside the universe. I must admit, that's pretty impressive."

Amy bent over. "It hurts."

"Try and breathe, Amy," said the Doctor.

"Easy for you to say," said the Oracle. She turned to Amy. "When you wake up, ask for some drugs. The good stuff, none of the rubbish where you can still feel pressure."

"What do you mean when I wake up?," said Amy. "I'm awake!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Jeff, stand away."

"Why?," he asked.

"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but it has to be done. Jeff, stand away."

Jeff slowly disentangled himslef from Amy. The Doctor took the sonic from the Oracle and walked closer to Amy.

"Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared."

"Don't be. Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it. Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we will find you."

"I'm here," Amy said desperately.

"No, you're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time." He raised the sonic at Amy. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Amy melted into a puddle of the flesh. Jeff looked at the Time Lords in shock.

"What was that?"

The Oracle sighed. "She's the flesh! What part of this don't you get?"

"Right!," said the Doctor, bounding up to the TARDIS controls. "Let's get this show on the road!"

* * *

><p>Mayantha was surprised to see the TARDIS materialize in the library. The Oracle came out.<p>

"Oh, good. There you are, sweethearts. How do you fancy a trip to fight some aliens you can't remember after you stop looking at them?"

"I was going to read," said Mayantha.

"Oh, well, bring the book with you."

The Doctor stepped out, Jeff was right behind him.

"Oi! Where do you think you're going?," said the Doctor.

"I was following you..."

"Well, you can't. Humans aren't allowed on Gallifrey. As long as you stay inside the TARDIS we're fine for a few minutes." He looked at Mayantha and grinned. "There's my girl! Come here!"

Mayantha smiled as she indulged her father's tenth incarnation's need for constant hugging.

"Jeff, Mayantha. Mayantha, Jeff. His wife was turned into a flesh duplicate and is currently somewhere we have no idea about. Also, there's a baby. And also... no, that's pretty much it. No! Wait, the universe exploded! Also, met Nixon. President of Mexico."

They heard the front door open and shut. The Master the Library. "What do you mean you can't remember them after you look away from them? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

"Oh, good. Nice to see you as well," said the Doctor.

The Master looked him up and down. "Are you wearing trainers with a suit?"

The Oracle came back in with a scroll. "Oh, good, Master, you got my message."

"We're trying to rescue some companion? You're losing them worse than usual." He looked at Jeff. "What's he?"

"That's Jeff," said the Doctor.

"What's a Jeff? Is he human? You can't have humans on Gallifrey!"

The Doctor motioned at Jeff's feet in the doorway of the TARDIS. "He's not on Gallifrey."

"Oh, now you care about rules," said the Oracle. "Are you going to go to the High Council then?"

The Master stiffened. "No. I suppose not."

"What did you do this time?," asked the Doctor.

"Nothing anyone will notice."

"Right, we still need more help," said the Doctor.

"Four Time Lords need help?," asked the Master with a sneer.

* * *

><p>Commander Jack Harkness sat in a bar when he was approached by a sultry raven-haired woman.<p>

"Commander Harkness," said the Oracle.

"That's me. How can I help you, sweetheart?"

"Well, you can stop calling me sweetheart for starters..."

Jack looked in amazement as the Doctor appeared next to the Oracle.

"Doctor?," he said.

"Hi, Jack. You remember the Oracle, don't you?"

Jack looked her up and down. "New look. I sort of liked you as a ginger, though. This is good, too. So, what are you two doing here? If you don't have anything planned, I can think of a few ideas for the three of us."

The Oracle rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you can."

"Anyway," said the Doctor, "ever heard of a place called Demon's Run?"

"We've seen a lot of activity there," said Jack. "Something's going on."

"What's going on is they've kidnapped my companion and her baby."

"Why?," asked Jack.

"No idea," said the Doctor.

"Great, I can see you'vre really thought this through."

"Are you coming or not?," asked the Oracle.

They showed Jack to the nearby and waiting TARDIS. The Master sat on the jumpseat looking disgusted.

"So, I followed the initial staffing just fine. You two, Mayantha, me. Four geniuses, that was good. Let's face it Jeff was an anchor around our necks," he said motioning at the offending human.

"Hey!," said Jeff.

"I mean, but it was his wife so whatever. Then you picked up Silurians, okay, fine. They've got poison. That could be helpful." Then he motioned at Jenny and Madame Vastra. "The Victorian London Silurian Human Lesbian lovers. They're entertaining at least, but now you've brought on a lactating Sontaran and Captain Pansexual."

"I only lactate to perform nursing duties!"

"Can we say fetish?," asked the Master. "Let's ask Captain Pansexual for his expert opinion."

"Commander Pansexual, actually," said Jack with a smile. "Good to see you again, too, Master."

"Captain, Commander, whatever. Then you've got space pirates or something. Like proper space pirates. This whole thing is bizarre."

Jack sided up to Mayantha. "Commander Jack Harkness."

She smiled. "Mayantha."

"Jack, no," said the Doctor.

"What?"

"That's my daughter."

Jack shook his head. "That's just not fair."

"NOw that we've got that settled," said the Doctor, "let's talk about how we're going to take Demon's Run."

"Oh? Are you sure you don't want to get anyone else? What about the fat blue guy you know?," asked the Master. "Every battle needs a fat. blue guy!"

* * *

><p>The Doctor walked into the communications room of Demon's Run. The Oracle was already there and the Master had been working on the computer system for a while.<p>

"So," he said, "how are you doing?"

"Hacked!"

"Find out anything?," said the Master.

The Oracle sighed. "Just that we're wasting our time."

"Oh, good, you're going to argue," said the Master. "So glad I came."

"What was that business with Colonel Runaway? What were you thinking? It's as if you just want some giant fist to come out of the sky and smack you down and since I'm usually standing next to you, it's going to hit me."

"He deserved it."

"Oh, so now you decide what people deserve? You're going to have to change names with him, aren't you?," she said motioning at the Master.

"Does anyone want to know what they were looking for?," said the Master. "They've been scanning her since she was born, do you think there's a reason why?"

The Doctor and the Oracle turned.

"Here's an idea, let's try looking at her DNA!" The Master punched a button and a picture of a DNA strand came up.

"Great, a human DNA strand, thank you."

"Yes, look closer...Human plus."

"Plus what?," asked the Doctor.

"Plus Time Lord..." growled the Oracle.

The Doctor turned to see the Oracle was glaring at him.

"What?," asked the Doctor, not registering why.

"Anything you want to say?"

"What?"

"Who's got a knife?"

"What?"

"You thought you were being so clever, confessing to the whole kiss thing. I say let's see how the eleventh one of you goes!"

The Master sat back in his chair, truly enjoying the spectacle.

"What? You think Amy and I?"

"You have some sort of weird ginger fetish!"

"I do not! I did not sleep with Amy!"

"What about the vortex?," asked the Master.

"What?," asked the Doctor.

"The vortex, pretty similiar in terms of exposure to the Untempered Schism. We know it has an effect on companions, what about at the cellular level? What if a human was conceived in the Time Vortex? The humans, did they happen to do their whole human mating thing in the TARDIS in the vortex?"

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "Why would I know that?"

"Wait, what's that thing called where they get married and they go on the trip?," said the Oracle.

"Their honeymoon..." said the Doctor. "But why would you do that? What do you need a Time Lord for?"

"You can't go around having sex in someone else's TARDIS," said the Oracle. "It's just rude."

Just then Madame Kovarian appeared on the screen in the room.

"Oh, look, crazy eyepatch lady," said the Master. "Because I was worried we would never hear from her again!"

"I see you've been accessing our files. What do you think?"

"What is she?," asked the Doctor.

"Hope. Hope in this endless, bitter war."

"What war?," asked the Doctor. "Against who?"

"Against you," said Madame Kovarian.

"Well, that figures," said the Oracle.

"A child is not a weapon," said the Doctor.

"Oh, give us time. She can be. She will be," said Madame Kovarian.

"Except you don't have her," said the Doctor.

Madame Kovarian had a eerily coy smile on her face. "Oh, Doctor. Fooling you once was a joy... but fooling you twice, the same way, it's a privilege."

"Oh, no," said the Doctor, the truth dawning on him.

An alarm went off. They heard chanting. The Master went back to the computer.

"There's something going on in the hangar," said the Master.

"That's the battle prayer," said the Oracle.

They fought their way down to the hangar. The Oracle went to Mayantha first, who was sitting with the deceased Lorna Bucket. The Sontaran nurse had died. Jack, Jenny and Madame Vastra were seeing to the injured Silurian soldiers. Jeff was in the corner with Amy, trying to comfort her as she held an empty blanket.

The Doctor approached Amy and Jeff. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Doctor," said the Oracle.

She pulled him to the side, with the old cot they had let Melody rest in.

"This was a gift from that Lorna Bucket. A prayer leaf with the name of the baby on it in the language of the Gamma Forest," said the Oracle.

"Yeah? So?"

"Oh, you don't read Gamma Forest?," asked the Oracle.

"No. Sorry."

"Did you know in the Gamma Forest there's no water but the river?"

"What?," asked the Doctor. "That's what the TARDIS said."

"Yes, I know, I probably should have looked it up, but Melody Pond, look Pond is River, Melody is Song..."

The Doctor looked at the prayer leaf again as the TARDIS finally translated and back at the Oracle.

"Oh, no."

* * *

><p>John was startled as Mayantha looked up. A ginger woman was walking towards them.<p>

"What are you doing here?," she said looking at John.

"Amy, I'm sorry, this isn't the Doctor. Well, actually he's a duplicate of the Doctor from another dimension with human characteristics-"

"What?," said Amy.

"I tried to talk to Jeff, he wouldn't let me," said Mayantha.

Amy shook her head. "I can't talk about this."

"Amy."

"Look, it's just, no."

Amy started walking away and came back. "How is she? Your sister, I mean."

Mayantha shook her head. "She's better, mostly."

Amy nodded and stalked off.

"Mayantha's staying with my family and I in London. Donna Noble's house in Notting Hill," John called after her.

She left. John turned to Mayantha.

"We have to get back to London," said John. "Donna's mother is coming. Oh, there's this thing called nagging that humans do that I should warn you about..."

"Want me to finish the story?," asked Mayantha.

"Later," said John, turning back to where the twins were playing. "We can pace ourselves. Josh, Ella, we're going home! Allons-y!"


	16. Seeing and Not Seeing

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who or like anyone in it. Thanks for the reads and the reviews and please, bear with me on the timey wimey-ness, I promise it will come good. Anyway, this chapter has some Journey's End semi-spoilers, but really, you should have seen that by now and it should have made you upset. Thanks again for reading, enjoy and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Rose met with Madame Kovarian again in her new hotel suite she'd taken residence in since the fall of the warehouse. She wasn't happy with the latest turn of events.<p>

"She's cut off his access to the children?," she asked.

"Yeah, won't talk his calls. Filed a protection order." Rose sighed. "I'm trying to get him to find a way to see the children."

Kovarian shook her head. "The clock should have been in place weeks ago."

"What's so important about it anyway?"

Kovarian ignored her as she did so often, Rose noted. "This will be a missed opportunity if you don't act swiftly. Mr. Croft may be nearing the end of his usefulness."

"It's just a clock."

Kovarian leaned back. "You'll have to take it."

"Take it where?," asked Rose.

"Their bedroom."

"What? I'm supposed to sneak into their bedroom?"

"You're a resourceful young woman. You'll work out something."

There was a part of Rose that thought that was a mad idea. Why would she do that?

"That is if you ever want to see your Doctor again," Kovarian added.

Rose nodded. "Okay then."

Rose left Madame Kovarian's suite and started down the hall. She thought about the last time she had seen her Doctor on that beach and what came before. The trip to return the Earth and that time on the Dalek Crucible.

She suddenly remembered when they had stood in the TARDIS, she, Jack, Donna and the Doctor. The way she'd been elated when the Doctor said she had been brilliant, then confused as he turned to Jack and said the same. Then even more perplexed when he walked to Donna and took her hand in his.

"And you were so brilliant, Donna Noble. Thank you, for everything."

"Yeah," said Donna. "You weren't so bad either."

"Blimey," said the Doctor. He moved to face the door and found Donna not moving with him. "Donna?"

"I just need a moment," she said. "I'll be right there."

The Doctor nodded. Rose moved to follow him first, wondering at what had just transpired. Did the current companion get priority or something? Yeah, that must have been it. Couldn't have been anything else, certainly not that nonsense in the universe with Donna and the Time Beetle.

Then she saw Donna's hand drift to her stomach and kept walking, forcing herself not to think about it.

They walked out onto the Dalek Crucible and the Doctor called for Donna again. She wondered why, what difference did it make? Then the door to the TARDIS slammed shut and they were both beating on either side of the door, begging for it to open.

Then it went down that trapdoor and the Daleks made them watch as the TARDIS burned and the Doctor had turned to the Daleks, to beg for Donna.

"Please. I'm begging you, I'll do anything! Put me in her place! You can do anything to me, I don't care, just get her out of there!"

The way he hadn't taken any of her consolation. Was that possible? Had he really, really meant that? Had John been telling the truth?

Rose looked in front of her in the hall. She thought she saw something, but blinked and it was gone, her breath had quickened.

No, not possible. She was going back to her Doctor, no matter what. He loved her, she loved him and that was that.

* * *

><p>Donna's schedule for the week had been crowded before: she had the wedding plans to finalize and had to prepare her office for her absence during the honeymoon. Add in a strategy meeting with the gaggle of attorneys she employed to decide how best to ruin Ethan's life and Donna was behind.<p>

Which is why she didn't beat Sylvia back to the house.

"Oh, Mum, good you got in," said Donna, tossing her bag onto the floor.

"Are you just going to leave it there?"

"It's my house, Mum."

"Where's this John at?"

"I don't know, Mum, I don't keep him on a leash," Donna said flopping down on a chair as her mother scowled.

"Well, where are my grandchildren?"

"They're with John."

"They're with John? Is he the nanny now?"

"I had to give Lisette some time off before the honeymoon and John is very good with the children."

"So was Lance..."

"Okay, Mum..."

"Ethan rang me."

Donna sat up in her chair. "When did Ethan ring you?"

"This morning. He says he's very sorry for what happened over the weekend."

"Did he happen to tell you what happened?"

"He said you two got in a row."

"He choked me in front of the children, Mum. It was a bit more than a row."

"Well, he's sorry."

"Oh, God, Mum, it's just like you to take his side. Get this through your head, we are never getting back together. Never ever. I'm marrying John."

"So, what were the baby books for?"

Donna's jaw dropped. "Why do you think you can go through my room?"

"I need to know what's going on in your life."

"Then ask! I'm a grown woman, not some teenager you need to spy on!"

"Wants his own baby, does he?"

"We both want another baby. I always wanted more children."

"You could have had more with Ethan..."

"Not happening, Mum!"

Donna was saved as the door swung open. Josh and Ella bounded in with hugs for their mum. Sylvia greeted them and then looked up to see John and Mayantha.

"So, you're John," said Sylvia, looking him up and down.

"Yes, hello."

She looked over at Mayantha. "And who is this?"

"That's Mayantha, she's John's niece," said Ella.

"She has a really cool telescope," said Josh. "You can see everything in it!"

"Mayantha..." said Sylvia. "What sort of name is that?"

"Uh... Hebrew?," said Mayantha. "That's a thing, right?"

Sylvia eyed her with skepticism, so Donna spoke up.

"Mayantha's staying with us for a bit," said Donna. "We love having her around."

"Where's your family then?," asked Sylvia. "Can we expect to see them at the wedding?"

"No," said John, "work is going to unfortunately keep them."

"What do they do?," asked Sylvia.

"Well, Mum sort of works with records and Dad is a... doctor."

"A doctor," said Sylvia. She looked at Donna. "Too bad you didn't meet that one. What do you do, John?"

"I'm sort of between things..." said John, thinking this was the wrong response as Sylvia's eyes widened.

"John works with aliens!," exclaimed Josh.

"Nobody likes fibs, Joshua," said Sylvia.

"No, John's actually an alien expert," said Donna. "Very highly regarded. Over the weekend, saving the Earth, that was him."

"Is that a fact then?"

"Yes, Mum." Donna stood. "Who wants a drink?"

* * *

><p>"So," asked Mayantha, "that was humans interacting?"<p>

John smiled. The previous night had been a lot of Donna avoiding eye contact, the passing of jaded remarks and a lot of people going to bed early. They were walking on the street, Josh and Ella ahead of them as they took in the beautiful spring day.

"They're not all like that. The way you see Donna with Josh and Ella, that's more the norm."

Mayantha nodded. "Still different from Gallifrey, though."

John nodded. "It is." He looked ahead as Josh and Ella ran to the steps of the National Gallery. "Oi! Be careful, you two!"

"Hurry!," shouted Ella. "Before it closes!"

"It's the National Gallery, Ella! It's not closing!" He looked to Josh. "What are you running for?"

"I want to get done so we can go to Toy Kingdom!"

"Fair enough," said John.

They went inside. The guide pointed out some things going on in the Education Centre so they had to go as Ella proudly painted some flowers in the Impressionist style. Josh played along, then ended up painting a battle between some zeppelins and a dragon. Then it was time to explore the museum.

"Oh, look," said John, "Madame de Pompadour."

Ella walked up to the fine oil painting. John held her back noticing the glare of a museum guard.

"She's pretty," said Ella.

"Prettier in person," said John.

"How do you know?," scoffed Josh.

John shook his head. "Just guessing, really." He looked to Mayantha. "What?"

"Nothing."

They walked further down.

"Oh, Ella, here's a good one," said John. "Van Gogh's sunflowers."

"Van Gogh," said Mayantha. "My dad met him."

Josh and Ella both looked at her.

"You know, an impersonator," said Mayantha quickly.

"Van Gogh?," whispered John.

"Helped him find a wayward space monster." She motioned at the painting. "See what it says?"

"For Amy?," asked John. "That companion?"

Mayantha got behind Ella and moved her closer to the painting. "Ella, see how they're all different?," she said motioning. "All at different stages of life. Some old, some brand new. Van Gogh was a genius, he could see things in the world that no else could and painted like no one else could."

"My painting wasn't as good as that," said Ella.

"Well, you need time, Ella, and practice," said John. "Besides, I'd rather see your paintings. Oh, think of that. We could have a painter and a space explorer in the family."

"I'm only going to explore space when it's not football season," said Josh. "I want to play for Manchester United."

"So, you're going to play football and then explore space in the off season?"

"Duh," said Josh.

John nodded. "That seems reasonable. You'll miss cricket season, though."

"Okay," said Josh.

John rolled his eyes. "Fine then."

Ella hurried off to the next room.

John sighed. "Oh, Ella, where are you going?"

They hastened to follow her and found Ella standing in front of Edvard Munch's The Scream. She was frozen.

"Ella, what's wrong?," asked John.

"I don't like it."

John shrugged. "Well, you don't have to like it."

"It's scary," she said.

"It's just a painting, dummy," said Josh.

"Josh, don't call your sister names."

John looked at the painting for himself, he could understand how it might be frightening. Those big eyes, the odd face and the color of the skin. That frightening sky behind him. He felt Ella's small hand take his.

"John, I want to go," she said.

"Are you certain? There's still lots more to see."

Ella nodded.

"Okay, sweetheart," he said and picked her up.

* * *

><p>When they arrived home, Donna was waiting at the door with a glass of wine. The children presented her with their paintings and she priased them and fawned over them, promising to hang them both up somewhere. They all went to see the preparations going on in the back garden for the wedding. Tents were going up, chairs were being arranged and an altar was being built. There were gardeners straightening up and Sylvia Noble seemed to be putting her nose in everything. Ella dragged Mayantha off to practice her flower girl walk down the aisle, forcing Josh to come with, leaving Donna and John alone.<p>

"I am going to murder my mother," said Donna. "She's tried to get me on the phone with Ethan twice! Twice! And she's trying to move all the chairs. She's already rearranged the seating chart for the reception," she said motioning at the tent where Sylvia Noble was now moving place cards.

"There's a seating chart?"

"Yes!" She sighed. "Granted, Ianto did most of it, but I won't have her undermining him."

John leaned in and whispered. "We could always elope. Think of it. We could be on our honeymoon tonight."

"Very tempting," said Donna. "However, I've got a couple dozen workmen building tents out there and setting up chairs and you were the one that wanted the wedding."

"I just wanted to get married," said John remembering what he said in the hospital.

"Well, we can't cancel now," she sighed, "Ella will be devastated if she misses the chance to wear that dress. Also, she's trying to get me to give her mine after I'm done with it. She wants to wear it to her friend Maisie's birthday party."

"You can't have her go being under-dressed for the occasion."

"Oh, she's got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?"

"No... yes, well, maybe a little."

"A little?," Donna prodded with a smirk.

"Maybe a lot." He paused. "You know that painting The Scream?"

"Yeah?"

"Ella was frightened of it," said John. "We were having such a good time, then she saw that."

Donna shook her head. "Ella's never done anything like that. She's always been such a happy girl, even when she was a baby, she barely cried, just giggled at me."

Josh ran over. "Mum! I have an idea for the wedding!"

Donna was in shock. "You have an idea for the wedding?"

"Remember my mate Tristan's birthday party?"

"Yes," said Donna.

"He had a bounce house! Could we hire a bounce house, please?"

"Josh," said Sylvia, "that's a silly idea. You can't have a bounce house at a wedding."

Donna stiffened, shot a look at her mother and then back to her son. "Josh, it may not be feasible to get a bounce house by Saturday."

"Oh," said Josh, looking deflated.

"However, if I can locate and hire one by Saturday, we'll have it."

"Donna!," exclaimed Sylvia.

"Really?," asked Josh.

"Yes, really, but you can't play on it until after the ceremony. Is that clear?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mum."

Josh ran off to tell Ella the good news. Sylvia crossed her arms and marched closer to Donna.

"Donna, what are you thinking? How are you ever going to live down having a bounce house at your wedding?"

"It's not as if we're having the ceremony on it, Mum," said Donna.

"That could be fun," said John.

"Besides, it's the first idea Josh has had for the wedding and I want him to feel included. That's much more important to me than what people say. Not that you would get that given your history."

"What?," said Sylvia.

"Okay, might have had too much wine..." said Donna. She handed her glass to John. "Here. Keep this from me."

John shrugged. "I don't know, I might give you more."


	17. A Nice Day To Start Again

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, etc. So, I just want to apologize for the delay between updates, it happened without my realizing. You know, I had to end one story, got excited about starting another and you know what I learned? Weddings are a beast to write. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews and follows. Please enjoy this one and please do let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>John had gotten used to Donna's lifestyle.<p>

He hadn't realized it at first, but it was the little things, like the 1200 count sheets on the bed, the memory foam mattress, the way there were fresh towels and lavender in the bathroom... As the Doctor he had really wanted for nothing, save companionship. As John Smith, he had wanted for everything and companionship in an IKEA bed that was so far from the TARDIS. Then Donna had given him as much companionship as he could handle and a life and a family and a house that was run like the Ritz Carlton by a Jamaican cleaning lady called Madge who was sure to correct it if you put a new roll of toilet paper on the wrong way while she was off for the weekend. She still didn't approve of the way she had seen John dry the dishes. Something about clockwise versus anti-clockwise that John couldn't quite follow. Mayantha had it much worse since as a Time Lady she had never had to clean up anything in her life and this became apparent during an incident involving an attempt to make Ella and Josh Nutella sandwiches. They had failed to tell her it wasn't necessary to use the cooker...

This all occurred to him as he stayed at Jack's new flat the night before the wedding. John had late appointed Jack as his Best Man. Granted, he didn't know this universe's Jack all that well, but he seemed familiar and the other men he knew from work and the cricket club weren't much more than casual acquaintances. So Jack it was despite the frightening stag party that John had only narrowly managed to escape. At least Jack hadn't brought his planned orgy back to the flat.

Still, he couldn't sleep. Too excited. Too ready to get married.

His mobile rang. He picked it up.

"Hello."

"Hello," came Donna's voice from the other end. "Can't sleep, either?"

John let out a big sigh. "Can't sleep without you."

"Well, you won't have to after tomorrow." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"No, I suppose not." John paused. "Look, in case I forget to mention it tomorrow in the middle of the wedding and the party and everything, I'm so glad I met you."

"Glad I met you, too, sunshine."

* * *

><p>Rose Tyler knocked on the door to the Noble house, soon to be Smith-Noble house. She tried to shake off the thought. She waited for the door to open.<p>

"Can I help you?," a woman asked with a raised eyebrow in a Jamaican accent.

"Yeah, I was just dropping off this wedding gift."

Madge eyed the bag. "You can't wait until the wedding?"

"I can't make it. Work stuff..."

Madge nodded and held out her hand. "I'll add it to the rest."

"I was actually hoping to put it inside myself."

"Well, Ms. Noble is busy and Mr. Smith isn't home."

"That's alright."

Madge eyed Rose suspiciously. "Then what's wrong? Why can't I just put it in myself? Do you think I'm going to steal it? What do you have that could possibly be worth stealing in that pound store gift bag of yours?"

"I just want to put it inside."

"Who are you again?"

"I'm a guest..."

"And your name is?"

Rose paused. "I'm just going to go."

Madge let the door shut slowly in Rose's face without saying a word.

* * *

><p>Mayantha woke up to the sight of Ella shoving her arm and hopping.<p>

"It's the wedding! It's the wedding!"

Mayantha thought. "No, still six hours, forty seven minutes and thirty-two seconds."

Ella looked at her curiously. "How do you do that?"

"It runs in my family."

"Mummy says to get dressed, we have appointments."

Mayantha dressed and headed downstairs. She found the sitting room crowded with children including Josh and Ella and another thin blonde.

"Nerys, this is Mayantha. She's John's niece. Mayantha, this is Nerys and her children, Kylie, Sophie and Liam."

"Hello," said Mayantha.

"We've got appointments for hair, nails and makeup," said Nerys. She looked at Mayantha. "My God, do you just look like that when you wake up?"

Mayantha shrugged. "Look like what?"

"She does," said Donna, "good genes seem to run in the family."

"How old are you?," asked Nerys.

Mayantha opened her mouth to answer then looked at Donna who signalled twenty with the opening and closing of her hands.

"Oh, twenty?," said Mayantha.

"So lucky. I was still fighting off acne at your age," said Nerys.

Your age. These humans were so funny sometimes.

"Well, come on," said Donna. "Big day. Josh, Liam, you can stay here. Be good for Lisette."

"Fine," said Josh not looking up from the video game he and Liam were playing.

Donna leaned in. "Remember: no bath, no bounce house." She kissed him on top of the head. "Love you. Off we go, ladies!"

"Sorry," said Mayantha, "hair, nails, what about them?"

"Oh, I have so much to teach you," said Donna.

* * *

><p>Rose was out of ideas so she knocked on the door of her parents' house. Maybe Tony would want to play with the Noble children. Jackie was the one to answer the door and looked less than pleased to see her eldest born.<p>

"Hi, Mum."

Jackie was in no mood for Rose's attempts at cheerfulness. "So, you're alive. Good to know!"

Jackie turned round and went back in the house. She had on a dressing gown and her hair was still in rollers. Rose shut the front door.

"I just wanted to come round and say hello."

"Yeah, I bet you did," said Jackie. "I'm busy today. We have to go to a wedding."

"John and Donna? You're going to their wedding?," Rose asked in surprise.

"Yeah, how do you know about it?"

"Oh, someone just told me..." Rose shrugged. "Where are they having it at?"

"At her house and don't you even think of showing up."

"Why would I show up?," Rose said probably too defensively.

"I don't know, why did you go to her office? Why did you dye your hair? Why did you disappear for months without so much as a word to your own mother? I don't know why you do the things you do!"

"I'm sorry..."

"Yeah, I'm sure you are. You always are," said Jackie, heading up the stairs.

Rose hadn't realized the wedding would be at the house, surely if everyone was out in the garden, there would just be staff in the house and she could look like staff. From there she could sneak in place the clock in the bedroom.

"I've got to go, Mum!," Rose shouted.

"I'm sure you do!," Jackie shouted back.

* * *

><p>Adeola and Gwen had arrived early at the wedding. Adeola's boyfriend had a family emergency so they were both cruising the wedding alone as single girls and making comments about the kinds of crazy hats some of the very rich ladies were wearing.<p>

The wedding was preceded by a cocktail hour and this had ample opportunity for them to people watch as they strolled the garden.

"Boy," said Gwen looking at the house, "when John gets a wife he gets a good one."

"Probably best that way. I don't think he would have done very well with a lot of dating."

"No..." Gwen concurred.

"Ladies," said Jack with a smile as he approached them.

"Commander Harkness," said Adeola. "You look very dapper."

"Thanks. It's a Brioni."

"How was the stag night?," asked Gwen.

"Jealous?," asked Jack.

"Not in the least."

"I can't picture John on a stag night," said Adeola.

"Yes," said Gwen eyeing Jack pointedly, "seems far too sleazy for him."

"Oh, Mr. Jones," said Jack, noticing Ianto's approach. "How are you today?"

"I'm hiding from Sylvia Noble," said Ianto, taking a martini off a waiter's tray. "If you see a tall blonde woman trying to move place cards smack her hand away."

"What's with the bounce house?," asked Adeola.

"Joshua's idea. Not a bad one, I must admit. They didn't really have any wedding-themed ones, though." He motioned at the inflatable palm trees on the corners of the bounce house. Several of the children among the guests had already let themselves in.

Gwen observed the bounce house where another guest was passing.

"What's bloody Harriet Jones doing here?," asked Gwen.

"Oh, that was Ms. Noble's idea," said Ianto.

"Is Pete Tyler still coming?," asked Adeola.

"I rang Mrs. Tyler to confirm."

"So, you're going to have the man who saved Harriet Jones' life and the man who sacked him in the same place as her," Adeola concluded.

Ianto looked at them. "Ms. Noble didn't get where she is by being subtle."

"A Pete Tyler trap, I love it," said Gwen. "Not the Tyler I want to trap the most. Of course if I trapped her, what would I do with her? Beat the piss out of her, I suppose."

"I have some ideas," said Jack.

"You always have ideas," snorted Gwen.

"I never saw what people saw in Rose," said Adeola.

"Complete raging psychopath if you ask me," added Ianto.

"No, definitely a complete raging psychopath," agreed Gwen. She toasted with Ianto. "Cheers."

* * *

><p>Sylvia Noble had confined John to a small room in the bottom floor of the house to get ready. Funny that she was confining him, it was his house, almost officially now. So, he got dressed, sat around with the telly on, too nervous to actually watch.<p>

There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

The door opened and Ella entered. She had on a long white dress, with taffeta layers like Donna's not that she would have it any other way. There was some beading and a purple sash around her waist to coordinate with the other bridesmaids. Her red hair was in a bun in a crown atop her head and she had on elbow length gloves. Donna had mentioned this to him, that Ella was in fact the only member of the wedding party with gloves on but she had spotted them at the shop and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I wanted to show you my dress." Ella spun around.

"You look beautiful, Ella!," said John. "Of course, you always look beautiful. You get that from your mother. Come here."

Ella walked over and John gave her a big hug. Josh rushed in, scuffing the shoe on his new outfit.

"We got a bounce house!"

John nodded. "Yeah, I saw that."

"Mum says I can't go in until after the ceremony."

"Seems sensible."

"Oh, come on, John."

John narrowed his gaze. "Are you trying to play me off your mum?"

"No," said Josh, feigning innocence.

"Yeah, right. It's not going to work."

Josh groaned. "Fine."

John sniffed. "Did you take a bath?"

"Yeah," Josh said disdainfully.

Jack entered. "Okay, kids, time for the main event!"

John smiled at the kids. "See you out there."

* * *

><p>Getting in to the wedding was harder than Rose had counted on. For one thing, the streets around the house were incredibly congested with the valets from the wedding and the drivers and cars for many of the guests. There was also a heavy police presence because apparently Harriet Jones was one of the attendees and security had been extra tight around her for some reason recently.<p>

She had gotten a waitress uniform from a secondhand shop and was trying all of the different security points around the house. If only Ethan hadn't alienated himself from Donna, this would have been so much easier.

She finally found a way in just as she heard the wedding march playing. She found herself in the kitchen, which was serving as the launching point for the entire wedding breakfast it seemed.

"You there!," she heard someone shout at her. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, to the back?"

"For what? Get over here and start helping us load up these nibbles! There are a hundred people out there who are about to want to eat!"

Rose struggled for a moment with what to do next.

"Get over here, you daft bint!"

Rose walked over and helped with the tries, lest she get sacked and tossed off the premises.

* * *

><p>There was a strange thing about not being able to see time anymore.<p>

As the Doctor, John remembered being able to tell time down to the millisecond. As a human-ish, time moved differently. Sometimes slower, sometimes faster.

The Doctor's wedding to Donna, he could remember every second, every detail. The Doctor's wedding on Gallifrey for that matter, but in John Smith's wedding to Donna, he found some things were moving past him. For example, when the processional started he couldn't remember the music, only Donna as she walked her way down the aisle, followed by Josh, Ella, Nerys, and Nerys' children. And he couldn't remember a word of what the vicar had said, just Donna's smile and how wonderful she looked in that dress. It was a wonderful dress after all, that corset was really...

"John," said the vicar.

"Wha- er, yes?"

The minister smiled. "I, John, take thee-"

"Oh, right, I, John take thee, Donna, to be my wife, To have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse,for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy law. In the presence of God I make this vow." He rattled the whole thing off, not taking any of the vicar's prompting which he supposed is why Donna seemed a little miffed, as he had done the same thing in the rehearsal and she had mentioned not wanting to look silly when she couldn't do the whole speech. From her smile, he didn't think it was a deal breaker...

He couldn't really remember her bit, either. Just that she was speaking and she was brilliant and beautiful and whatever she was saying was just great. Then Jack was nudging him, he couldn't figure out why. He looked back about to ask why he wanted to interrupt Donna when she was being so brilliant.

"The rings?," Jack whispered.

Oh. Rings. Those would be good. He took them from Jack and they were exchanged.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Oh, that was good part. John lifted Donna's veil and kissed her. Probably more than was appropriate, but she didn't seem to mind. He finally stopped when he heard the recessional music and took Donna's hand and went back into the house.

And all he could remember of that was holding Donna's hand. As it was meant to be.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: Did I mention that there is more wedding coming? <em>


	18. Rumor Has It

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, Rose... Speaking of Rose, may I just reissue the if you like Rose, you may not like this warning I issued at the start of this story? Anyway, thanks for the reads and the reviews. I hope you like this chapter and please tell me what you think. Also, hi, lurkers!

* * *

><p>Donna's first wedding had been all about her parents, like a lot of weddings, she supposed. It was before she had struck it big as a media magnate and they were the ones footing the bill, so they got what they wanted. Or more what Sylvia wanted, Geoffrey was willing to go to the registrar's office and have a nice dinner out after. There had been a big church ceremony with every relative they had in it, a sit down meal with choice of dry salmon or dry chicken and oh, the dress, how Donna hated that dress. Then of course it had led to years of being married to Ethan, which was the worst part. She had been determined to do things differently this time. Starting with the groom...<p>

"You already kissed!," snapped Josh.

Donna broke with John's lips. She realized her children were staring at her. They had taken the wedding photos and now they were waiting in the house while the guests were situated for the party portion and until they were properly introduced.

"Sorry," said Donna, "we just got carried away."

Josh rolled his eyes. "This is so gross."

John smiled. "Wait until you get married."

"I'm not getting married. When will I play football or explore space?"

John nodded. "Fair point."

"I want to get married, I want to wear Mummy's dress," said Ella.

"You just wait, young lady. There will be plenty of time for that after you go to university and start a career," said Donna.

"You said I could go in the bounce house after the ceremony," said Josh.

"Well, I want you to wait until we get introduced," said Donna. "We'll all go out together, yeah? Besides, we have something for you two. John?"

"Right." John opened the drawer of a nearby table. He pulled out two boxes. "One for Josh, one for Ella. They're from the both of us."

Josh opened his. "Tickets?"

"Yes, they're for the West Ham Manchester United game," said John. "You'll also get to meet the players."

"The match is in Manchester?"

"Yes, God save us," said Donna.

"Thank you, Mum."

Donna motioned. "Thank John. It was his idea to go to..." she took a deep breath, "Old Trafford..."

"Thanks, John," Josh smiled.

"I mean, honey, you could just give West Ham a try! It's just down the road," said Donna.

"Donna..." said John.

"Fine, I'll drop it."

"Ella," said John.

Ella opened her tiny box revealing a silver heart shaped locket.

"It's beautiful..." said Ella.

"Do you want to wear it?," asked John.

"Show her the inscription," said Donna.

John turned it over. "To Our Ella, Love Mummy and John. It's got a spot in there to put in any picture you want."

"Thank you," said Ella.

"Look," said John, "I just wanted to say thank you for letting me in to your family. Your mum is so special, I know it can't be easy to share her. I'm so looking forward to watching you grow up and being a part of your lives."

John looked over to see Donna was crying. She smiled.

"Don't do that! I'll ruin my make-up!" She kissed him again. "I love you so much."

* * *

><p>"This is turning out to be a really good wedding," said Adeola, enjoying the first course.<p>

Gwen, Ianto and Jack nodded in agreement at their table.

"What do you mean a good wedding?," asked Mayantha. still trying to grasp the human wedding concept.

"Well," said Gwen, "sometimes you go to a wedding and it's rubbish. There's no one interesting there."

"The food sucks," added Adeola. "Usually they all have dry chicken or fish with too many bones in it."

"My cousin had an all vegan menu at hers," said Ianto. "I'll take dry chicken over tofu slices any day."

"Food's not all of it, though," said Gwen. "Sometimes the deejay sucks, but the music's been really good so far."

"The bounce house is good," said Adeola. "Less hyper children running around."

"I hope the cake is good," said Jack. "I always hate it when the cake sucks."

"It's chocolate with layers of banana and chocolate ganache in it," said Ianto. "Fondant and sugar flowers."

"What is it with John and the bananas?," asked Gwen.

"Well, you know what they say-" began Jack.

"Don't even, Jack," said Adeola.

"This era is so not fun," said Jack.

"This era?," asked Ianto.

Before Jack could lie, they were interrupted by the introduction of the bride and groom. Everyone stood and applauded as John and Donna took the dance floor.

"Of course," Gwen said to Mayantha, "it does help when you actually like the people getting married."

* * *

><p>The party was agreed by all of the guests to be a success. Good music, excellent food and the drinks kept flowing until even Sylvia Noble seemed like a happy woman. Josh's bounce house turned out to be a massive success which he ran into as soon as the family was introduced. Everyone got up and danced far into the night.<p>

Donna dragged John away from the dance floor.

"What are you doing?," asked John.

"Play along."

Donna took John to visit several tables, introducing him to business acquaintances and far flung relatives. Then she took him to the table where Harriet Jones was seated with the Tylers.

"Madame President," said Donna.

"Donna. You looked lovely," said Harriet. "You all make a wonderful family."

"Thank you," said Donna.

"Are you feeling recovered from your injuries, John?," asked Harriet. "I was so sorry to hear you were injured."

"I'm quite recovered, thank you," said John.

"So we can expect you back at Torchwood after the wedding?"

John just then caught onto Donna's plan as he saw Pete's face get red as he went for more wine.

"No, I was told my services were no longer required," said John awkwardly.

"No longer required?" Harriet turned to look at Pete. Jackie was also looking at him. "Mr. Tyler?"

"I asked John to resign..."

"I wouldn't say that," said John.

"You sacked him?," Jackie whispered frantically.

"Mr. Tyler, what on Earth were you thinking?," said Harriet. She sighed. "We'll be discussing this on Monday in Downing Street first thing."

A few minutes later, Donna had kept she and John moving through the tables of assembled friends and relatives, greeting, chatting about the menu.

John looked up and suddenly saw Pete. "Clever trick you played there."

Donna sided up to John. "John didn't do anything, that was all me. He's too nice. I'm not."

Pete looked at John. "I gave you a chance when you had nothing."

"Thanks," said John.

Pete looked miffed. Donna dragged John away.

"You don't owe him anything, John," said Donna. "He's just jealous you're better at his job than he is."

"You could have warned me, though."

"I didn't warn you because I knew you'd say no."

He supposed that he couldn't argue with that. He wasn't in to the office politics thing at Torchwood and not at the level Pete Tyler liked to play them at, but he knew it would do no good for Torchwood to be left without him, especially if there were an actual crisis. John sighed. "What am I going to do with you, Donna Noble?"

Donna snorted. "Bigger question is, what am I going to do with you?"

* * *

><p>Rose thought Donna had an enormous house. It was making the Tyler mansion look quaint. It had taken forever to get out from under the caterer's thumb and she had been through room after room, too many bedrooms, she had wasted a lot of time in what she finally realized was the nanny's room and then found the kids' rooms and suspected she must have been close.<p>

She finally found something that looked like a master bedroom. A big fluffy bed... She tried to put out of her head the mental picture of what went on in that bed...

A tell tale pair of red Chuck Taylors in the corner. This had to be the right place. She got out the gift bag and unpacked the box, removing it from its tissue paper. She just needed a spot for it.

* * *

><p>"Okay, how much longer do you want to dance?," Donna whispered in John's ear.<p>

"Why? What's wrong?" They had been dancing a while and John found he quite liked it, being wrapped in Donna's arms.

"Nothing, just this corset. Ella does not pick dresses based on comfort." She smiled up at him. "I noticed she wasn't the only one with an appreciation for it."

"Oi! What does that mean?"

"It means I saw you staring down my dress."

"It is a lovely dress," said John. "But frankly, I like you in anything or nothing."

Donna smiled. "You want to prove that?"

"You mean now?"

"Yeah, our bedroom is just up there."

"You don't think anyone will notice if the bride and groom go missing?"

"John, we have a bounce house and an open bar. No one is going to miss us."

John looked around. "I suppose we'd be fine for a few minutes."

"Better be more than a few minutes, sunshine."

* * *

><p>Rose placed the clock Madame Kovarian had given her on the night stand, hoping no one would notice it. Suddenly, she heard the sound of laughter down the hall.<p>

"You are going to break your back carrying me! You're no good to me broken!"

It was Donna. Oh, God, Rose rushed into the bathroom just as she heard the door to the bedroom open.

She heard Donna shriek and a thud on the mattress.

"I am definitely not broken," said John.

"Lock the door."

What did they need the door locked for?

"And done! There will be no interruptions, wife."

"In that case help me get my dress off, husband."

Oh, God. They were going to... Oh, God.

For what seemed like an eternity, Rose sat in the bathroom and listened to any number of moans, groans and screams.

The worst was when he cried her name. When he shouted, "Oh, Donna, you are brilliant!"

He sounded like the Doctor then.

* * *

><p>Jack had finally persuaded Mayantha to dance after he swore on his little black book that he would keep his hands in only respectable areas.<p>

"How's your dad?," Jack finally asked.

Mayantha looked up.

"The last time I saw him, he didn't look so good."

"He's good. He's different from when you saw him."

"Your mother?"

"Fine."

"What about your little sister? How's she?"

Mayantha paused.

"Are they still in her head?," asked Jack. "After all this time?"

Mayantha swallowed. "It's not that they're in her head, in fact, they can't be. The problem is she's stuck. When we turn eight, we're taken to see the Untempered Schism, it's a gap in the fabric of space time."

"A rite of passage," Jack suggested.

"Exactly. After that we go to the Academy and learn how to be Time Lords. She wasn't allowed to look at it, they said she was too tainted by being off world at such a young age."

"So, there's only one school on Gallifrey?"

Mayantha looked at Jack pointedly. "There's being a Time Lord or there's the Wastelands."

"That doesn't sound good," said Jack.

"It's not."

Suddenly, they heard an awful scream from Ella on the bounce house.

"Ella!," shouted Mayantha springing towards her, Jack was next to her.

Ella was in tears. "I just saw the monster! It's in Mummy's bathroom!" She pointed at a small window on the second floor of the house.

"What monster, gorgeous?," asked Jack.

"The monster! The same monster!"

"Okay, okay, it's alright," said Mayantha, hugging her.

"Where's Mummy? Where's John?"

Mayantha looked around. "I don't know."

"I can guess," Jack whispered.

Mayantha smacked him on the arm.

"I want Mummy!"

Ella broke free of Mayantha and ran into the house.

"Ella!," Mayantha called after her, in hot pursuit.

* * *

><p>Rose was still in the bathroom when the pillow talk began.<p>

"How was that?," asked John.

Donna smiled. "Oh, good enough."

"Good enough?," he spat.

"Oh, bloody amazing. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to be satisfied."

"Well, give me a few minutes, you can try."

"Try?"

Donna grinned. "I think this marriage thing may work out."

Donna's face fell as she heard the pounding of small footsteps coming down the hall.

"What?," asked John.

There was a pounding on the door. "Mummy! Mummy!"

"Put your trousers on!," Donna hissed. "Just one second, Ella!" She rustled in the melee of bedclothes and found her dressing gown. She looked to see that John had the trousers on and was currently buttoning up his shirt. She opened the door and was shocked at the sight of Ella. Her eyes were red, her face was tear-stained, she looked horrified. "Ella, what happened?"

Ella threw her arms around Donna. "I saw the monster."

"What?," asked John.

Mayantha and Jack soon arrived.

Donna rubbed Ella's back. "It's okay, sweetheart. There's no monster."

"It's in the bathroom."

Rose's attention piqued. She looked around. There was just that tiny window. How was she supposed to climb out of that?

"Well," said Donna, "that's simple enough. Let's look in the bathroom, okay?"

Ella nodded tearfully. Donna took her hand and walked into the bathroom. "There, sweetheart, do you see anything?"

"No," said Ella.

"It's okay, sweetheart. We all imagine-" There was suddenly a thud and something falling in the linen cupboard. Donna stiffened as Ella threw her arms around her again.

John entered. "What?"

"There is something in the cupboard," Donna whispered.

"Seriously?"

Donna nodded urgently and moved to put Ella behind her. John opened the cupboard and saw...

"Rose?"

"Oh my God!," Donna shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"Rose, what the hell are you doing in there?," asked John. "What the hell are you doing here at all?"

Mayantha and Jack entered.

"Whoa, I thought that Gwen and Adeola were exaggerating. Man, was I wrong," he said.

"I don't get it," said Mayantha.

"This is an old companion of the Doctor's," said John.

Mayantha nodded, then shook her head. "Okay, yeah, that's not explaining anything," she answered.

"What are you doing in my house?," shouted Donna.

"I, uh, just-"

"Why were you in our bedroom?," she shouted. "Have you been in there the whole time?"

"Uh, yeah..."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She turned. "I've had enough. Someone dial 999."

"Probably a good idea," said Jack going to get the phone.

"What? You're going to have me arrested?," asked Rose.

"Uh, yeah," Donna said mockingly.

"John, are you just going to let her do that to me?"

"Rose, you broke into our home. What am I supposed to do?"

"Daddy's not here, is he?," Ella asked timidly.

"Sweetheart, why would Daddy be here?," asked Donna.

"Rose is Daddy's girlfriend," said Ella.

John and Donna turned back to look at Rose.

"You what?," screamed Donna. "How sick are you?"

"Rose, if you have anything approaching a sensible explanation, I would hear it," said John.

Rose stared at him. "I'll explain myself to the Doctor."

"God, do you still think he's waiting for you?," asked Donna. "His wife must be a bloody saint for not murdering you."

Rose raised her hand and suddenly found her wrist in Mayantha's quite firm Time Lady grip.

"Who are you?," asked Rose.

"Just a visitor from out of town," she said with a smile. "Let's go wait downstairs."

Rose had no choice but to follow as Mayantha twisted her arm along.

* * *

><p>Gwen, Adeola and Ianto ran in the house once they realized that the police had arrived at the house.<p>

"John, what's going on?," asked Adeola.

The three turned to see Rose Tyler in handcuffs. Some police stood around questioning her.

"What the bloody hell is she doing here?," hissed Gwen.

"She was hiding in the bathroom of the master bedroom," said John.

The three let that settle in.

"Oh," said Adeola.

"So, she just sat in there while you two..." said Gwen.

"Yep."

Gwen shook her head. "That's twisted."

"I'm going to get drinks," said Ianto as he headed back out.

John turned to Adeola. "I wonder if you would mind getting the Tylers."

"Right. Yeah."

Adeola went back outside. John went over to where Donna was talking to a detective. He had managed to help her get back in the dress quite quickly before the police arrived at the scene.

"You say nothing's been taken, ma'am..." said the detective. "If there's only been trespassing, that's all I can charge her with."

"I don't care if nothing's been taken. She was in my home where she is most definitely not welcome, she's harassed me at my office and you heard Madge say she was here earlier trying to get in."

Jackie and Pete entered. Jackie immediately hid her face in her hand at the sight of her daughter under arrest.

"Oh, my God, we've come to this," she muttered.

"Rose, what the hell?"

"Sorry, sir, we need to take her to the station house."

"What were you thinking?," hissed Jackie.

Rose looked around at all the assembled faces staring at her, waiting for an answer. The answer was of course, so simple, she wanted to get back to the Doctor, but no one understood that. No one could understand that.

"John, we still have the wedding toast," said Jack.

"Right. Donna?"

"Yeah, not letting some psycho ruin my wedding."

Everyone went back to the party, sans Jackie and Pete.

"What on Earth were you thinking?," said Pete. "I've got enough problems without throwing you into the mix."

"You used to be a smart girl," said Jackie. "When is this obsession going to stop?"

"Alright, we really must take her in," said the copper.

Jackie and Pete watched the police take Rose away in what they hoped would finally be bottom.


	19. Questions

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, etcetera. Thank you for the reads and reviews and favorites and follows. So, this chapter probably requires some knowledge of Series Four to follow easily, but I think if you got here, you must already have that. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you think of this chapter, I would love to know.

* * *

><p>Pete Tyler had been sitting in front of the committee for three days. Discussing things with Harriet Jones apparently met initiating an all out investigation of Pete's time at Torchwood and his behavior, dating all the way back to the Cybus Incident. Apparently, an area of special interest, for understandable reasons, was Rose. So, there Pete sat, next to his attorney, facing off the same group of senators he had seen for days as he tried to explain what his thinking had been, something that he was beginning to wonder at. They had discussed the incidents with the Master's body and the telepathic communication with Harriet Jones and now they were on to...<p>

"Mister Tyler," said the Senator from Blackpool, "I would like to discuss the Reality Bomb incident."

"Yes, ma'am?," said Pete bracing himself.

"How is it Miss Tyler was selected to head the project?"

Pete paused. "Well, she asked."

"And you approved it?"

"Yes." Pete didn't like where this was going.

"On what basis did you find her qualified?"

"I beg your pardon?"

The senator sat back in her chair. "On what basis, did you find Miss Tyler qualified to head up the Dimension Cannon Project?"

"She..."

"Was it her education? I see no records or transcripts of it."

Pete swallowed. "Her experiences travelling with the Doctor gave her unique insight."

"Oh, yes the Doctor..." This was another area where any politician worth his or her salt could smell blood.

"If I might beg the indulgence of my colleague from Blackpool, I'd like to ask specifically about the same incident in regards to the Doctor," said another senator.

"I yield the floor to my colleague from Nottingham."

"Thank you." The senator, a grey haired man swiveled his chair and took off his reading glasses to better face Pete. "When did Miss Tyler approach you with the idea of contacting the Doctor?"

"I believe that was in January-"

"No, I meant the very first time. Was it not shortly after she first arrived in this dimension?"

"She was upset. She missed him," Pete rationalized.

"She first intended to use the Dimension Cannon to contact the Doctor, did she not?"

"It was necessary to prevent the Darkness, the collapse of universes-"

"Yes, I have some questions about its so-called necessity, but did she not intend to use it to contact the Doctor before the Darkness?"

"Who told you that?"

The senator pulled out a sheet of paper. "It's in the memo in Appendix 4A, from a Mickey Smith, where he outlined Miss Tyler's fixation on the Doctor in some detail, this was a full year before the Dimension Cannon."

Pete's attorney spoke. "I believe Mr. Tyler has a right to face his accuser and Mr. Smith is quite unavailable for questioning."

The senator smiled wryly. "All sources say that is due to Miss Tyler, so let's just leave that alone, shall we? Were you or were you not warned about the nature of Miss Tyler's fixation on returning to the Doctor?"

"Yes," answered Pete.

"Did you remove her from the project?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I... I don't have an answer."

"That's honest, I suppose. Now, as for the necessity of contacting the Doctor, who suggested it was necessary?"

"Rose did." That was such a bad answer...

"The Dimension Cannon functioned by ripping holes in the universe, did that seem like a positive thing to you?"

"It seemed necessary, in order to contact the Doctor, which was necessary."

"Because he's a genius?"

"Yes."

"Didn't you think a genius would have noticed reality collapsing?"

Pete paused. "Maybe."

"Now, about this other person, Donna Noble, not to be confused with Donna Noble of the Noble Corporation, your research showed that all the time lines converged on her? Didn't that suggest she would be the one to solve the crisis as she did?"

"I didn't know what it suggested."

"I do have some questions about Miss Tyler's behavior in what is referred to in Appendix Five as the Time Beetle universe towards the same person," said another senator.

"I'll yield the floor to my colleague in a moment, after I ask one more question. Did it occur to you that Miss Tyler's interest in using the Dimension Cannon was perhaps not purely to use it to contact the Doctor solely towards the end of saving reality, but perhaps for personal reasons?"

"Not at the time, no."

"I yield the floor to my colleague from Dover."

"You had questions about the Time Beetle universe?," asked Pete.

"I do, but before I get to that, I did have one question that's been bothering me since I read the report about the Reality Bomb incident."

"Yes?"

"Whose idea was it for your wife, Jackie Tyler, to travel to the alternate universe, though she has no professional affiliation with Torchwood and also, to arm her?"

This was not going well.

"I would have to look in my records," said Pete with no conviction.

* * *

><p>Madame Kovarian awaited the call at her console. A shadowy figure appeared on the screen.<p>

"Is it done?"

"No, there have been some problems with the Tyler girl. She was caught placing the object."

He paused. "Has it been discovered?"

"No. Not that we can tell." She paused. "There is another matter, though."

"All you bring me is problems..."

"The Noble woman's daughter. She must take after her mother, she can remember seeing the Silents."

There was a long pause.

"So?"

"It slows our progress. I'd like to eliminate her," said Kovarian.

There was a long pause. "No. We can't upset the Noble woman, not at this stage. We'll have to give them some space until the child is ready. The effectiveness of their deployment was nil anyway."

"What shall we do about Miss Tyler?," asked Kovarian.

"Let her stay where she is until we need her." concluded the figure.

* * *

><p>"My God, daytime television is scandalous," said Donna. She looked over at John under the covers next to her on the bed. "I never realized how many deadbeat teen fathers there were. Then again, my children have a deadbeat middle-aged father. At least these boys have the excuse that they're young and stupid."<p>

The honeymoon had been called off or rather it had taken a different form. The Rose incident had been the final straw for Ella's peace of mind, given what had happened with Ethan just a few weeks before. From what they could tell, Josh wasn't too crazy about it either, but wouldn't admit to it. Donna didn't feel right about leaving them when they were so upset since the next option was to have Sylvia stay with them and that wasn't about to happen. Mayantha had offered but she would have to leave for Gallifrey soon and the kids had school so they couldn't go to Morocco. So, they had settled for staying home, which to Donna was quite a holiday. She had been working so hard for ages and couldn't name the last time she hadn't gone into the office that wasn't a Sunday or a national holiday. Laying around, watching bad television and other things done after the children were safely at school made a very good holiday. That surprised John, he had so many memories of being drawn to travel, it amazed him he could have so much fun at home.

The one who seemed to be suffering most was Madge who liked having the house to herself for cleaning.

"Aren't we watching one of your channels?," asked John.

"Yeah, but I own a lot of channels. I don't know what's on them. I have people for that." She looked at the clock on the night table. "The coach will bring the kids round in an hour."

"Want to ring the driver on his mobile and have him circle around?"

Donna smiled. "No, that's alright. Chinese for dinner?"

"That sounds brilliant," said John.

"Yeah," said Donna, reaching for the drawer of the night table and pulling out a selection of menus. "I can really pull off this wife stuff if you're going to be this easy to please."

"Mister Smith!," they heard Madge yell in a tone that made them think she had missed her calling as a drill sergeant. "Visitor for you!"

John walked downstairs quite surprised to find Bernard in the sitting room.

"Bernard, what are you doing here?"

"I'm not disturbing you, am I?," he said looking worried.

"No, no, you're fine. What's happened? Has there been an invasion?"

Bernard smiled. "No, nothing of that sort, but I'm afraid the results of the senate hearings are out and so is Pete Tyler."

John's jaw may have dropped. "Gone from Torchwood? Why?" He motioned for Bernard to take a seat and took the chair across from him.

"They were dissatisfied with his decision making, dating back to the Dimension Cannon and thought his appointment of Miss Tyler to head of the project was nepotistic given her..." Bernard tried to find a nice way to say what he was thinking.

"Given that she was woefully under-qualified?," supplied John.

"Yes, that would be it. Now that she's been arrested and is being held for psychiatric evaluation, that hasn't helped. I've been appointed Acting Head of Torchwood."

"Congratulations."

"It's just temporary, I'm sure. Point is, I need someone to head up the Extraterrestrial Department."

"You want me?"

"You're the most qualified candidate I know. There is Commander Harkness, but he doesn't have quite your level of expertise and frankly, I would rather not spend all my time in a sexual harassment tribunal."

John paused. "I would want to do things my way."

"Understandable."

"And I would like the freedom to pursue matters I deem important."

"Are you thinking of something specific?"

"The ones responsible for kidnapping the Master. I think there's more to them than just one kidnapping. The Master is too much trouble to hold hostage on a lark, they must have needed him for something."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Not yet, but I intend to find out."

"After your honeymoon, naturally."

"Naturally."

They shook hands on it and Bernard left as Donna came downstairs.

"So, Head of the Extraterrestrial Desk? Quite a title."

"Were you listening the entire time?," asked John.

"Only since Bernard said Pete Tyler was ruined."

"Donna..."

"I don't take any pleasure in it, well, maybe a little. He did ignore you, which he shouldn't have, but we should celebrate your new job!"

"There's no need to make a fuss," said John.

"Oh, yes there is! It's not every day someone is made head of the Extraterrestrial Desk at Torchwood! I'll order cupcakes and you are going to have to let me get you a car! You can't not have a car now!," Donna said, grinning. "You deserve it."


	20. The Departure of a Time Lady

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Alternate Donna. Does anyone own Alternate Donna? Just a thought. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and reads and follows. I appreciate it and I love hearing from you. So, just to issue a reminder/warning, I'm going seriously non-canon on the whole River/Amy situation here which you probably guessed by the presence of Jeff a few chapters ago. I know, poor Rory, but maybe he won't have to die as many times in this universe. I mean, it's an Alternate Universe, that's what the whole thing is based on. Anyway, enjoy and please, please let me know what you think of the chapter.

* * *

><p>She was going.<p>

John was surprised by how affected he was at this moment, even though he had known it was coming and had insisted upon it. Today was the day Mayantha was going home.

To Gallifrey. Some place he would probably never go again and even if he did, it wouldn't really be his home. It was another Gallifrey, just one of the billions of possibilities of what Gallifrey could be, but that didn't stop him from wondering about it.

It was alright. She was supposed to go. She had to go home to her family, she had a life, such a great big life to lead and John was sure that keeping an ex-Time Lord company was around the last thing she needed to be doing. She had a career and so many brilliant ideas. Donna had pried about boyfriends and Mayantha had revealed there was one suitor, some young man that worked at TARDIS cultivation, but he was intimidated by her father.

John liked the sound of that. Good for the Doctor.

He kept having to remind himself that this wasn't his Mayantha. His Mayantha was so long gone, murdered by the Daleks during their first attack of Gallifrey, the prime of her life being robbed by a war she had nothing to do with starting. The Doctor had been to some dark places in his soul after that, temporarily shell-shocked, his only daughter taken. He had wondered about the time back on Skaro with Sarah Jane and Harry, if he had made the right choice in not ending the Daleks then. In those days, if he could have gone back and done it over, if it had meant getting his daughter back, he would have.

John wasn't so sure that it wasn't in part what he had been thinking of on the Dalek Crucible. Donna next to him, pregnant with another daughter, one that was also in danger of being taken too soon by a war she certainly had nothing to do with. The hell if they were going to take another daughter...

"Hey." John felt a light touch on his wrist as Donna sat next to him. They were in the back garden, they had invited Adeola, Jack and Gwen over to say farewell to Mayantha as well and were enjoying the beautiful day, playing a game of frisbee. "You're doing it again."

"Doing what?"

"The angst bit," Donna said with a tiny smile. "You're thinking about her alternate, aren't you? Your Mayantha."

"Yeah..."

"It's okay, you know. You're allowed to think of her."

"The Doctor had this ability to put things away, keep memories away, I don't have it."

"Well, I don't think that's true," said Donna.

John looked at Donna.

"Why'd he take up with Alternate Me then? You said he tried to deny it at first, then what?"

"It was too hard to be alone."

She squeezed his hand. "You don't have to be."

John smiled at her. He looked up to see a man heading towards him, the one Mayantha had tried to talk to.

He knew that look. It was usually on the face of someone's mother...

"Jeff!," shouted Jack.

The man slugged John.

"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing walking into my back garden and hitting my husband!," shouted Donna.

Mayantha got in between Jeff and Donna, who seemed ready to strike. There had been about enough of trespassers in the Smith-Noble home. "Jeff, that's not him. That's not the Doctor."

"Sure looks like him."

"Well, he's not," said Mayantha. Despite her youthful appearance, she had all the authority that would be expected of a Time Lady when she spoke. "If you have something to say, you may say it to me."

"Did your dad send you alone?," Jeff asked angrily.

"Yes, yes, he did," said Mayantha. "He wanted me to tell you something."

"Oh, yeah, what's that?"

John straightened up, rubbing his jaw. Gwen and Jack were at Mayantha's side. Adeola was holding on to the kids. Mayantha walked closer to Jeff.

"He knows it was you, Jeff," said Mayantha.

"Knows what was me?"

She swallowed. "He knows you led the Silence to Gallifrey. That's how they found it, that's how they took my sister."

"Whoa," said Jack.

"He knows you did it," said Mayantha. "He wants me to tell you you're forgiven. You were always forgiven."

"I don't want his forgiveness. I would do it again," said Jeff.

"Yes, he knows that and that's why he hasn't told the High Council."

"I don't need favors from him. He took my daughter from me. My marriage is over thanks to him, Amy's seeing some nurse!"

"I'm sure he'll be sorry to hear that," said Mayantha. "Had he been able to do other than he did, I know he would have."

"Time Lords," snorted Jeff.

"I think you've said enough," said John.

Jeff looked at John. He may not have been the Doctor, but John could tell that he had enough of the Doctor's fury in his eyes to scare him. It must have been why Jeff hadn't told him this in person in the first place. So, what could Jeff do? He left.

John looked at Mayantha. She seemed upset by what had just transpired and John understood completely. There was nothing like a disgruntled companion to ruin a Time Lord's day.

"Alright," said Donna, "now that's done, let's have some cake and ice cream, shall we?"

* * *

><p>Finally, it came to the moment where John, Donna and Mayantha were in the sitting room standing outside her TARDIS. Donna had just given Mayantha what she swore was her last hug and Mayantha looked at John as she held the tin of chocolate banana biscuits he had baked for her.<p>

"I'll come back and visit," said Mayantha. "I don't know when. It'll probably be a long time for me and hopefully not too long for you."

"Do come back," said Donna. "We'll keep your room ready."

"What are you going to tell the Time Lords about me?," asked John.

"I'll tell my mum and dad the truth, the High Council just needs to know the Master's body was disposed of properly."

"Don't know if I would call it proper..." John muttered.

Mayantha handed John a black leather case. "Here. Psychic paper in case you need anything. Might take some work to get it through the barrier, but we'll get it eventually."

"Psychic paper?," asked Donna.

"Yeah," said John. "I'll explain later."

Mayantha checked her watch. "This is it."

John nodded. Mayantha smiled and gave him one more hug. They said goodbye and she stepped into her TARDIS. Donna squeezed John's hand as they watched it disappear.

"You're going to miss her, aren't you?," asked Donna.

"I'm fine," said John.

She hugged him. "You're so not," she said wryly.

* * *

><p>Mayantha's TARDIS materialized in the drawing room of the family home on Gallifrey. She stepped out, sad at having just left John and Donna, happy to see her native two suns hanging in the sky.<p>

"I'm home!," said Mayantha.

"Oh, were you gone?," she heard her father say from the hall. He stepped in the drawing room and adjusted his bow tie, playing at being casual.

"Yeah, I just went out for some milk."

"You were meant to be home a month ago," said the Doctor.

"I made some friends and besides, I brought chocolate banana biscuits," she said holding up the tin John had given her.

The Doctor opened them and took a sniff. "These smell homemade. Who did this?"

"You did," said Mayantha. Her father looked at her with concern. "Well, sort of."

"Let's get some tea and you can tell me all about it."

* * *

><p>Donna had gone to meet the kids at school and take them to their appointments with the child psychiatrist. John was alone in the sitting room, trying to focus on how to reorganize the department when he returned to work on Monday, but his mind kept drifting to Mayantha and Gallifrey and the other Doctor. The doorbell rang and John welcomed the opportunity to stop pretending he was working and leapt to answer it.<p>

He was surprised to see the woman who he had met that day in Leadworth, the one who had mistaken him for the Doctor, Amy Pond. She didn't look angry, if anything, she just seemed a bit sad.

"Hi," said Amy. She stared at him forzen for a minute. She paused. "Sorry, oh my God, you look just like him."

"Come in."

Amy came in.

"I'm sorry for intruding like this, I just wanted to see Mayantha."

John drew a deep breath. "Well, I'm sorry to say she's left. She had a specific time she had to go home at."

Amy nodded. "Yeah, of course. I should go."

"What happened with your daughter?," asked John.

Amy stopped her exeunt and turned to face John.

"I tried to get the story out of Mayantha and she told me some, but I got the impression it was hard for her. Then your husband visited the other day..."

Amy rolled her eyes. "That's just like Jeff." She paused. "They took my baby from me and they made her a cold-blooded killer, she was damaged, so damaged beyond all hope."

John motioned for Amy to sit and she took a place on the sofa. John sat down across from her.

"And the Doctor killed her..." John said softly.

Amy shook her head. "No, that's on me."

"What do you mean it's on you?"

"River, she came to me. She said she wanted to chat. See, she had this diary she kept track of her meetings in because they were out of order..."

"Oh..." John said noncommittally, remembering what had happened at the Library.

"She bragged to me about killing. She bragged about having the Doctor's daughter with her, stealing her from her nursery and I begged her to give the Doctor back his baby."

"Because you knew what it felt like..."

"Yeah," Amy nodded, "exactly. River said the Doctor could have his daughter back over his dead body. She went to say hi to my husband and I looked in her diary and saw where the last entry was and so I called the Doctor."

"Then why did Mayantha say that her father had?"

"I don't know if you've noticed, but the Doctor has a talent for guilt."

"Yeah, I've noticed," said John.

"He felt badly about what had happened. He always wants to save everyone. He didn't want what happened to come between Jeff and I." She sighed. "He wasn't the same when I called him, you know, he just looked like a shell of himself, he told me he had been searching for twenty years, on his own. He really doesn't do alone well."

John smiled wryly. "Neither do I."

"So, I asked to go with him and he agreed. I thought it was to make sure he didn't hurt River but we got there and we found his daughter and I thought he had looked bad. She was so much worse. She was just six and the Silence had been raising her, brainwashing her, they didn't even tell her who she was, what she was and still, somehow, she was fighting against it, hanging on to whatever little piece of a Time Lady was in her soul and they punished her for it... And I knew my daughter was responsible, which made me sick." Amy's eyes were filled with water as she spoke.

"It wasn't your fault, Amy, she'd been taken from you."

"Just because it wasn't my fault, doesn't change anything and it didn't change that there was another little girl who still had a chance. It was the only choice at the time."

John nodded. "You did what you thought was best."

Amy shook her head. "It doesn't make me feel any better."

"It never does."

Amy appraised John. "You're different than my Doctor, aren't you?"

"I suppose so. My experiences are much different than his, darker. Where I'm from, the Doctor's alternate is the last of his kind. He fought in a war where he had to kill the rest of his people in order to save the rest of creation."

"So, I suppose you understand then."

John nodded. Amy Pond might have been young, but John had known by her eyes she was older than she looked or at least she felt older. He supposed she would have to, given what she had just told him. The awful realization that her child was a monster, realizing what was necessary. He saw in her something like a kindred spirit and he had an idea.

"I've taken up too much of your time..." said Amy getting up from the sofa.

"Amy, what do you do?"

"What do I do?" She was puzzled by the question.

"Where do you work?"

"I work in a shop."

"How long did you travel with the Doctor?"

"A couple of years, I suppose. Why?"

John drew a deep breath. "I wonder if you would consider taking a position at Torchwood. See, I've just been made head of the Extraterrestrial Desk and I have very few employees that have experience with actual extraterrestrials."

Amy shook her head. "I don't think I'm qualified, I haven't been to university, I used to be a kiss-o-gram-"

"Degree holders I have and I don't think we have any kiss-o-grams on staff, but I need people who aren't afraid of aliens, who can deal with them and are actually interested in talking to them. Besides, I've had some luck with shop girls." He paused, considering. "Well, a little. Much more luck with gingers."

Amy nodded. "We can try it out, yeah? Trial period."

"Trial period," John confirmed with a grin.


	21. On and Up

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna, Rose, Jackie. Anyway, thanks for reading and following and for the reviews. Oh, caution, I referred back to myself again and a story I wrote called "Really Turn Left" which was, yeah, the best title I could come up with. So, if you haven't read it you can guess Turn Left went differently in my ficverse. Please enjoy and please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Donna walked into the master bedroom and stirred John awake. She loved when he was asleep, he seemed so relaxed and she liked to see him relaxed. He deserved it after everything he'd been through.<p>

"Morning," he said.

"Morning," she smiled and gave him a kiss. "You should get up. First day as the boss, you don't want to be late. Besides, I've got a surprise for you."

"What? Better than last night's surprise?," he asked with a cheeky smile.

"Maybe not," said Donna. "But it is very good. Get dressed, you."

* * *

><p>John went downstairs to the sitting room and saw that there was a new picture on the mantel. It had before been one of Donna and the twins that he was rather fond of. It had been replaced by a large silver framed wedding photo. He and Donna in the center of the portrait, he held Ella in his left arm and Josh was actually smiling in front as Donna held him against her.<p>

It finally hit him: he had a family, an actual family again. Okay, the kids weren't his, but he knew he couldn't love them more if they had been, and a wife. Wife and kids.

He realized Donna was standing next to him.

"Brilliant surprise," he said.

"It is great. It's the first portrait I've gotten of Josh in two years where he hasn't got his tongue sticking out." She paused, taking a sip of her coffee. "But no, that's not your surprise."

"What?"

She took an Hermes scarf out of her jacket pocket. "Turn around then."

"This is starting to head in the direction of last night's surprise," said John.

"What surprise last night?," asked Josh.

John saw the children were joining them, already in their school uniforms.

"Never you mind," said Donna. She gave John a small push and he turned around as Donna tied the scarf over his eyes. She looked at Josh and Ella. "You two take John's hands and lets show him his surprise."

Josh and Ella grinned as they took a hand and led the blind-folded John to the garage.

"What are we doing again?," he asked.

"It's a surprise!," said Ella.

"Ready?," he heard Donna ask.

"Ready for what?"

Donna removed the blindfold and John looked to see a blue Mercedes saloon sitting in the garage.

"I got the color right, didn't I?," asked Donna.

"You bought me a car," said John in disbelief.

"You needed a car."

"I was fine on public transport."

"John," said Josh, "you have to ride in this car. It goes really fast."

"When did you ride in it?," asked John.

"We might have taken a slight detour on the way back from their appointment last week," said Donna.

He shook his head. "It's too much, Donna."

She rolled her eyes. "You know, it's my money, I think I'll decide what's too much, thank you. Do you even know how much money I have? I'm not going to miss this, believe me. You, skinny boy, just need to shut up and take a look at it." Donna opened the driver's door.

John walked over and looked inside. The interior was a soft gray leather and he sat down. Donna sat in the front passenger seat and leaned over.

"How does it feel?," whispered Donna, running her hand up his thigh.

"Good."

She pulled back as the kids bounded in the backseat, eager to join in the new car excitement.

"There's a telly in the back!," offered Josh.

"We've got headsets!," said Ella.

"Now, I know it's not a sports car," said Donna. "It's got some sort of fancy engine, though, cost me extra and it goes like the wind."

"It's wonderful. Thank you."

"I picked the rims!," added Josh.

"That's true. I did let him choose the rims," said Donna.

"Excellent choice, Josh." He looked at Donna. "Thank you. You didn't have to."

"But I wanted to." She smiled. "You can thank me by picking me up in it and taking me to dinner."

"John, will you take us to school?," asked Ella.

"Yes, I have time," he said, casting a glance at his watch.

"Run and get your bags," said Donna. They scrambled out of the car. "And Josh make sure you've got your karate kit!"

Donna looked back at John. "There's a box in the boot for your office. Nothing too fancy, just a coffee mug, picture of your gorgeous wife in case some secretary gets an idea."

"The secretary is called Mabel and she's sixty."

"Even better," said Donna. "Pick me up at six?"

* * *

><p>Amy Pond sat in front of Canary Wharf waiting for the Doctor- no, John, to show up. It had been quite a few days for her, moving, finding a friend to stay with in London and doing a bit of shopping. She had no idea what the Torchwood dress code was or if there was one, but had gone to H&amp;M and bought her best approximation of what an adult would wear to a new job. A black skirt, red top and black boots. She looked up just as John Smith headed towards her carrying a box.<p>

"Sorry, I had to get a space in the car park. Never had a space in the car park!," John said cheerfully. "Did I keep you waiting?"

"No," Amy lied.

"Good. Let's get you sorted," said John.

He led her into the Torchwood lobby, past the Cybus Incident memorial and to the lift. From there, it was to floor thirteen and the Extraterrestrial Department. Gwen and Adeola were waiting, faces bright as usual.

"Hello, boss," said Gwen.

"How was the honeymoon?," asked Adeola.

"Good. Good." He motioned with the box. "Everyone, this is Amy Pond, she's going to be working with us. She's a former companion of the Doctor."

"Not the mad kind?," asked Gwen.

"The mad kind?," asked Amy.

"Oh, do you not know about Rose Tyler?"

John rolled his eyes. "Is it necessary to tell everyone who comes in the building about Rose Tyler? Even the news agent across the road knows."

Gwen carefully considered her answer. "Yes."

"Come on, John," said Adeola. "I'll help you with your office and Gwen can find Amy a desk."

* * *

><p>It had not been a brilliant few weeks for Jackie Tyler.<p>

No, not at all.

The start had been the night of the Smith-Noble wedding. To tell the truth, she had really been looking forward to it. After all, she had come up with the idea of setting the two up and was rather pleased with the result. Then Rose had shown up while she was getting ready and she had thought the girl might do something, but had ignored the instinct in favor of getting on with her day. Then the wedding had been great until that exchange with Harriet Jones. Pete sacked John? Why sack John? He was the only one at Torchwood with a bloody clue! Then the coup de grace of the evening: Rose hiding in the newlyweds bathroom while they did what newlyweds do.

She might have gotten through that. After all, nothing in the house was missing, it was just really weird. The prosecutor recommended a psychiatric evaluation and Jackie had been really, truly relieved to hear it. Then the evaluation actually happened and Rose attacked the psychiatrist.

"Why did you do that, sweetheart?," Jackie asked, sitting across from Rose as she wore the pajamas and dressing gown issued by the mental hospital.

"She said I was delusional."

Jackie bit her tongue. "And why did she say that?"

"She said I'm never getting back to the Doctor."

"Rose, I was with you the last time you saw him, remember? Didn't you notice anything different about him?"

"No."

"He was staring at Donna, couldn't keep his eyes off her. You know what John told you. He'd fallen in love-"

"No, he couldn't have. He loves me, I don't know what Donna did to him, maybe some sort of poison or sex pollen-"

"Sex pollen?," exclaimed Jackie. "What sorts of places were you going?"

Rose didn't answer. Jackie sighed.

"I read the reports from your father's hearings." She paused. "You saw Donna in that other universe? The one with the Time Bug?"

"Beetle," Rose snapped.

"Whatever. It says she lived through years there, had her baby."

"What? I'm supposed to keep track of her baby now?"

"When did you know it was the Doctor's?"

Rose shook her head. "I didn't know that."

"Don't give me that, I am your mother, I can spot you lying miles away. When?"

Rose sighed. "I thought her eyes were similar, doesn't matter, though. I couldn't have done anything differently, she still had to go back and die."

"You sent the Doctor's wife to her death and that doesn't strike you as odd?"

"What are you trying to say, Mum? That I wanted her dead? Oh, yeah, that's me, I wanted to kill Donna Noble! It was the only way to save the multiverse. You're so thick, Mum."

"Okay, I've had about enough. Let me explain something to you I should have made clear long ago. When you love someone, it's not always about what you want. When you found out about the Doctor and Donna, you should have been happy he found someone. That he hadn't been alone all this time."

"I never wanted him to be alone! He should have been with me! He's going to be with me!"

"Rose, he didn't pick you. If you can get over that, maybe you can salvage the rest of your life and I don't see what any of this has to do with breaking in to their house or dating her ex-husband!"

"You wouldn't understand."

Jackie had about enough. "That's right. I never understand." Jackie got up.

"Where are you going?," asked Rose.

"Home. Until you decide you're ready to deal with your life!"

Jackie walked out, apologetic as she almost ran into a woman with an eye patch.

Not a great few weeks at all.

* * *

><p>John thought perhaps he didn't enjoy public speaking as much as the Doctor as he found every pair of eyes in the department trained on him.<p>

"So, ladies and gentlemen, Torchwood." He swallowed. "You need to understand that I intend to do things differently from here on out. Our mission as it's outlined is to defend the Earth, but we are going to start thinking differently about how we do that. We're not here to use aliens, not here to shoot at everything we see, not to plunder for technology."

"Then how do we defend ourselves?," asked Jack.

"I've seen the other side of violence and trust me, you don't want to be a part of it." He unintentionally looked at Amy. "We can do better, we've got to do better because humanity depends on us. First things first, the Harriet Jones incident."

"We're reopening the case?," asked Adeola.

"We never should have closed the case. We need to follow every thread back to its source and find out who was behind it because whoever it was is still out there and we don't have a clue who they are." He looked at Gwen. "You can bring Amy up to speed on it while you're telling her the rest of the Rose story."

Gwen smiled. "Will do, boss."

* * *

><p>Donna waited in the front of her building feeling a little bit like a teenaged girl while the security guard stared at her. She relaxed finally when the blue Mercedes pulled up to the building, tires squealing as it came to a halt.<p>

"You've certainly gotten this in hand," said Donna.

"Yeah, I found the paperwork for it. Did you know you bought a racing package?"

"What? Not sure you can handle it?"

"I'm used to going much faster, Donna," said John as he pushed down on the gas.

"Good day?," asked Donna.

"Brilliant day. I'm reorganizing the whole department. Bernard's not so much as asking what I'm up to. Completely different from when Pete was in charge." He looked at Donna, noticing her dress, a clingy black lace number allowing for an extremely good amount of cleavage. "You changed clothes."

"I wanted to look nice for our date."

"You look better than nice."

"So, where are we going?"

John sighed. "I knew I'd forgotten something."


	22. Unseen

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Doctor, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. Thanks for reading and reviewing and following. Sorry, this is a short chapter, but I just started working nights and am still trying to work out when best to write. Anyway, please enjoy this and please let me know what you think. I love hearing what you think and because it's been a while... Hi, lurkers! Thanks again and enjoy!

* * *

><p>The two months since John's takeover of the Extraterrestrial Desk had gone quite well. A few incidents all dealt with and none of them caused by John. Best of all, not a Tyler in Torchwood, to the great relief of the staff. Adeola led them all into the lab.<p>

"I was going over the autopsy records of everyone in the warehouse and the ones we rounded up as well, when I noticed something. It was right in front of us." Adeola held up an eye patch.

Gwen crossed her arms. "What? They're all going to a fancy dress party as pirates?"

Adeola looked at John. "It's not just an eyepatch. There's information stored on here, designed to be transmitted directly to the brain."

"What sort of information?," asked John, taking the eye patch in hand, looking at it.

"Too hard to tell," said Adeola. "The encryption is like nothing I've seen before. Way too advanced, I took one apart and it seems to have some sort of electrical capability put in."

"For what?," asked Gwen.

"That's a convenient way to kill someone," mused Jack.

"Then why would you wear it," said John. "What could make someone want to put on something that might kill them?"

They were silent. John looked at them questioningly.

"I was asking for a reason," said John. "I wanted answers. Jack, come on. You haven't seen this before?"

Jack frowned. "Well, there was eye patch lady."

"Eye patch lady?," asked Adeola.

"The woman who held Amy," said Jack.

John picked up the phone. "Mabel, would you send Amy Pond in here?"

They waited a minute for Amy to arrive.

"I'm still doing the paperwork on the Slitheen thing," said Amy.

"Yeah, never mind that," said John. He motioned for her to come closer and she approached. "Jack says you've seen someone wearing something like this?"

Amy nodded. "Madame Kovarian and... River Song."

"Do you know why they wore it?," asked John.

Amy shook her head. "I never asked. I just thought it was some sort of cult wardrobe thing."

JOhn sighed. "We need to figure out what's on this thing."

"Any volunteers to put it on?," asked Adeola.

They all looked at each other.

"Well, no then," concluded John. "I think it's time to assume that the Silence was somehow involved in the kidnapping of the Master."

"But what did they want him for?," asked Jack.

"Yeah and what are they doing on Earth?," asked Amy. "The Doctor and the Oracle made it to where they had to leave Earth alone for good. Well, the monsters at least."

"Monsters?," asked John. "The ones you can't remember?"

"Yeah," said Amy. "We're supposed to kill them on sight."

John frowned. "You mean you lot could be walking around murdering these monsters and never remember it?"

"Yeah," said Amy.

"You would think the bodies would start to reek," said Gwen.

"Or you would trip over them," said Adeola.

"Okay, Gwen, I want you to go back to the people we captured at the warehouse and debrief them again. Try to find out who the Silence is and what they were doing on Earth in the first place. Amy, Jack, I need a full report from you both. Everything you know about the Silence, how they work, anyone that works for them, anything they've done in the past and whatever you know about this Time War of theirs." He sighed. "Wish I could ask Mayantha about this."

"Didn't she give you the psychic paper?," asked Jack.

"Yes, but I would rather not put her in danger by calling her out of seclusion to just ask some questions." He turned to Adeola. "We need to find out what this is for. Some sort of mind control? A communications apparatus?"

"Do you want me to put it on someone?," asked Adeola.

"No, I think having whoever it is get electrocuted might be a blemish on my record," said John. "Two thirty-six, isn't it?"

Gwen looked at her watch. "Yeah, exact. How do you do that?"

Amy smiled. "He's part Time Lord."

"I just got lucky," said John. "My time sense hasn't worked in quite a while. I've got to be off. Joshua has a match. We'll talk more in the morning. Get started on your assignments."

* * *

><p>Donna walked out onto the street to see Ethan. She stopped dead in her tracks.<p>

"What the hell are you doing here?," she asked. "There's a protection order against you."

"I don't know, just passing by," said Ethan.

"Then keep passing." Donna started for her car.

"I want to see the kids."

"No," said Donna. "They don't want to see you. You frightened them to death! They've been seeing a psychiatrist!"

"My solicitor told me."

"Then leave it," said Donna. "Just leave them alone. You've never cared before."

"Oh, what? You've got John now? You're all a happy bloody nuclear family?"

"This isn't about him," said Donna. She shook her head. "This is the end. I see you again, I'm calling the police and having you arrested. You are not ruining my day."

Donna got in the Land Rover and drove off as Ethan stared. He thought he saw something, but then shook it off.

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on, that was in!," shouted John. "In!"<p>

The cricket judge looked back at John. "Mr. Smith, if I have to warn you again, you'll have to leave the premises."

John groaned internally as the other parents stared at him. The crowd was mostly mums and had been annoyed at him since the match began. Finally, the school had done something useful- besides educating teh children- and forced Josh to play cricket for the summer term. John had spent countless hours in the back garden with the boy, perfecting his game and now this moron wanted to say the ball was out when it was so clearly in! He groaned again at another botched call and looked up to see Donna finally arriving, all smiles.

"Hello, sweetheart," she said giving him a kiss. "How's the match?"

"With one more eye, this judge could be a cyclops," John muttered.

"Oh, well, good to see you're not letting this go to your head." She looked around. "Where's Ella?"

"She went to play on the swings. Why? Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine. I've had a really great day in fact."

He looked at her again. She never smiled this much. She seemed giddy. "What? Did you make another billion?"

"No. I had an even better day."

"Oh?"

"What are you doing in say March? Do you think you might be able to take some time off work?"

John shrugged. "I don't see why not, assuming there's not an invasion. What happens in March?"

"Are you really this thick?," asked Donna.

"What? What am I missing?"

She smiled. "We're missing nothing, actually. In fact, we found something."

"I don't understand."

"Well, less of a something, more of a someone." The smile was huge now.

"Who was missing?," asked John.

Donna rolled her eyes. "I'm pregnant, you git."

John's face froze.

"Well, don't just stand there," said Donna. "Say something."

"I'm, I'm just..."

"You're happy, right?" Donna wasn't used to this level of not speaking from John.

"Oh, Donna, I am so beyond happy right now." He took her face in his hands and kissed her. "March?"

"The twentieth."

"Oh, that is so brilliant."

* * *

><p>Ella swung happily in the playground, wishing John was there to push her higher because he was really good at that. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something and stopped swinging to get a better look.<p>

It was her monster. Staring at her with his big eyes, clenching his long hands and cocking his head to look at her better.

Ella screamed. The other children looked at her questioningly and so did the school staff still there.

"Leave me alone!," shouted Ella. "Leave me alone!" She squeezed her eyes shut only opening them when she felt John's hand on her arm.

"Ella, Ella, what's wrong?," asked John.

"Did someone bother you?," Donna asked frantically.

"The monster came back," she cried.

"Oh, sweetheart," said Donna, taking her little girl into her arms.

"Make it go away," Ella said desperately.

"You're fine," said Donna. "No one's going to hurt you."

Donna took Ella and started rocking her. John looked at where Ella had motioned, thinking he saw something for a second and then it was gone and he couldn't remember what it was.


	23. Wishes

Author's Notes: I do NOT, seriously, DO NOT own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. Anyway, apologies about the delay, I started working nights, then the chapter I thought was this chapter had a line in it where I was like "Why am I not writing this chapter first?" Oh, as a reminder, just so no one gets confused I wrote chapter 22 and put it up, but then the site went all weird and it wouldn't show up until a day later, so if you don't think you read that chapter, you should go back and do that because there's stuff and things in there that you will need to know. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews and the follows and the favorites. I love hearing what you all think, so please enjoy this chapter and let me know!

* * *

><p>"We're home!," Donna announced walking in holding hands with John. They had just been to the obstetrician and she couldn't wait to tell Josh and Ella everything.<p>

"Hey," said Josh.

Donna smiled at John, walking in as Josh sat at the television.

"We were just as the doctor's," said Donna, trying to rouse his attention. "We got a picture of the baby. We brought it home to show you."

"Uh-huh."

John walked over and took the remote control, shutting the telly off.

"I was watching that!," said Josh.

"That wasn't watching so much as being hypnotized," said John.

"Where's your sister?," asked Donna.

"Her room. Lisette sent her there."

"What?," said Donna.

"She screamed about the monster again."

Donna looked at John. "I don't bloody believe it," she whispered.

"I'll speak with her," said John.

"This is the last warning," Donna hissed. "I mean it."

"I'll tell her," said John.

* * *

><p>Donna made her way up to Ella's room. She found her sitting on her bed.<p>

"Hi, Mummy."

"Hi, sweetheart." She sat next to her on the bed. "How was your day?"

"Bad."

"Why bad, sweetheart?"

"My monster came back and Lisette sent me to my room."

"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen again." She rubbed her back. "Come on. Downstairs."

* * *

><p>Later that night, John came in the master bedroom. Donna had been fuming since she came upstairs and John went to talk to Lisette. She had worked herself into a proper anger, something she had done a lot lately, pregnancy hormones had put her on overdrive, she was saving all her diplomacy for work.<p>

"What did she say?," Donna asked sharply.

John sighed. "She thinks Ella is doing it to get attention."

Donna scoffed. "Of course she's not!"

"I know."

"This business all started that night at Ethan's. Something happened there!"

"I know." John started changing into his pajamas.

"And I won't have her feeling like she's done something wrong! Like she can't come to us if she's frightened! She's my baby, she needs to come to me if she's scared!"

"Donna, I know. Look, who are you angry at?"

Donna gritted her teeth. "That bastard Ethan, that bint Rose and yes, Lisette! Did you give her the final warning?"

John looked sheepish.

"Oh, John, for crying out loud!"

"You know, she has been their nanny since they were three."

"Yes! And she's really starting to be rubbish at it! And she's giving me such a hard time about the baby! I've agreed to hire a nurse, you're staying home, it's not like she'll be the one walking the halls with her every night! She has all the time Josh and Ella are at school, practically takes every other weekend to see her boyfriend! I'm sorry, it doesn't appear to be such a hard life!," Donna growled.

John laid down. "About finished?"

Donna smoothed her hand over her slightly protruding stomach. "Fine. I'll stop."

"How about their name lists? What have they come up with?"

Donna held up a sheet in Josh's hand. "Beckham, Maradona, Pele, Thierry."

"It's all footballers," John observed.

"Yes." She held up another sheet: pink paper with glittery stickers in Ella's hand. "Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, Cinderella, Mulan, Pocahontas, Belle, Alexis, Miley..."

"Belle's not so bad."

Donna shook her head. "No. We're not naming the baby Belle."

"Why not?"

"Belle sounds like a call girl."

"What do you mean it sounds like a call girl?"

"I don't know. It just does."

"Your list had Annabelle and Isabelle."

"Those are different." She paused. "We could let Ariel make it to the finals, I suppose."

"What about Pocahontas?," John asked cheekily.

"No way!"

"No other baby will be called Pocahontas!"

"Yeah, for a reason!" She smacked him with the list and he held up his hands in mock surrender.

John leaned over and kissed her. "We had better get to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Why don't you have any suggestions?"

John groaned. "I've got no ideas."

"Yeah, I might have guessed that when you chose your name."

He glared. "I've gotten by with the name John Smith for quite a long time, thank you."

"I want you to be involved," pleaded Donna.

"I am very involved," said John, flicking off the lamp and taking the baby name book and lists away from Donna. He spooned behind her, wrapping his arms around her to rest his hands on her belly. "We are having a baby and that makes me happy enough to not care what she's called."

"Thought you wanted Pocahontas."

"Right," said John, his eyes growing heavy. "I don't care so long as she's called Pocahontas. Pocahontas Lion King Smith Noble."

* * *

><p>The end of the summer term meant that it was time for Josh and Ella's ninth birthday party. Donna knew well and good she spoiled them on these occasions. She always had, trying to make up for Ethan's absence and general crappiness as a father. This year was no exception and Donna was rather proud of her efforts. She refused to give in to separate parties. She hadn't spent two months on bed rest and thirty hours in labor with them both to give separate parties. Usually this resulted in some compromise like a party at the game center or an expedition to the zoo. She was proud of her solution this year. Josh would be outside with his football party. They would play little matches and there was a screen showing the Noble Sport Network's coverage of the initial rounds of the World Cup. Ella would be inside with a princess party where all the little girls would have make overs where their nails were painted and their nails were done. Ianto had even found a service to do it all. There would be tea and pink cakes, the two parties would only meet to cut the big cake and open presents. The sitting room was pink, the back garden was covered in every available football decoration. There was a small army of children's party workers here and Donna thought she had everything accounted for. John was in charge of the boys and promptly at noon, there was a steady stream of boys coming in and their parents took to the back garden.<p>

Donna looked up and realized that the only girls who had arrived for Ella's party were Nerys' daughters, Sophie and Kylie. She checked her watch and it was half past twelve.

"Nerys!," she hissed.

Nerys took another sip of her white wine, knowing exactly to what Donna's hiss referred to. "Yeah, I noticed."

"Oh, God, what am I supposed to do?"

"You sent out the invitations?"

"Of course I did! I reminded everyone I chatted with at the end of term prize giving, they all said they would come. I sent them to everyone in their year and the ballet class."

"Should we wait more?"

Donna looked over at Ella's anxious face. She looked back at Nerys. "Did Kylie and Sophie each get Ella a gift?"

"No, just the one."

Donna looked over at the gift tables. Ella had the ones from her, John, and Sophie and Kylie's. Josh's table was piled high with gifts from the thirty or so boys that must have been in the back garden.

"This can't be happening," said Donna.

"Maybe there was traffic," reasoned Nerys.

"Something's going on. We've got to do something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Donna paused. "Poppy Clark lives down the road, doesn't she?"

"Suppose so."

"I'm going down there."

"Donna!"

Before Nerys could object further, Donna was out the door and down the five houses to the Clark residence. She knocked on the door and found Poppy's mum, Viola.

"Donna," she said. "What's going on?"

"Well, I think you may have forgotten, but it's the day of the party! We were just wondering where Poppy was."

"Oh, Poppy's ill."

"Ill?," asked Donna. "Oh, no."

Then Donna saw Poppy running behind Viola's back.

"Well, she seems better. Why don't you bring her round to my house? You have two other girls, don't you? Bring them as well."

"We just can't today, Donna. We don't even have a gift."

"Oh! Well, that's alright. You can just get her a card, put a note in it. I could give you the note. I could get a card, there's a Tesco, just two blocks."

"We're not coming, Donna. Sorry."

"What the hell do you mean you're not coming?"

"Frankly, I don't feel it's safe."

"What's not safe? I'm not safe? My husband?"

"Ella. Everyone knows about her fits. Bernice Frain told everyone all about it."

Bernice. Of course. Her enemy from the Parents' Association. Bernice was the sort of woman who had given up her corporate law practice to stay home and make her children organic cupcakes and be the room mum and head of the Parents' Association, generally making it her purpose in life to make Donna or any other mother who worked feel like a failure. "Her fits?"

"The screaming about the monsters. She's delusional, Donna."

Donna felt her face getting red. "You are the most stupid bitch I have ever met. You and the whole bloody lot."

"There's no need for this language, Donna."

"No need? You screw with my babies and you screw with me and you do not want to screw with me! Still owe money on this house?"

"What?"

"You remember this." Donna realized she was pointing a finger at Viola as if to curse her.

That might have been overkill.

Might have.

* * *

><p>Donna came back and found Nerys was the last one in the sitting room.<p>

"What happened?," asked Donna.

"Ella went to her room. My girls went outside. I'm sorry."

"Mum!," Kylie shouted.

Nerys went out to answer the shout as John came in from the outside and picked up one of the many pink cupcakes. Donna put her face in her hands.

"What happened in here?," he asked. "Where are the girls?"

Donna threw her hands up. "No one came!"

"What? You mean they can do that?" John was in disbelief.

"Of course they can do that."

"Really? Because I've been to at least a dozen of these since we got married."

"Her birthday is ruined!"

"Well, Josh is having a brilliant time."

"Yeah, not helping because she sees the big pile of presents and the happy party and no one came to hers because the bint Bernice told every mum in the bloody year that Ella is delusional."

"Delusional? Why?"

"Her monster. Whatever bloody Ethan did to her. I should go murder him, then that bint Bernice."

"You're not going to murder anyone."

"No, but I am going to ruin her life. What the hell am I supposed to do with thirty bloody Hello Kitty gift bags?"

"Donna..."

She tried to hold back a sniffle. John took her into his arms. "It's just a party," he said. "She'll get over it."

"No! No, she won't." Donna fought to steel herself. She couldn't go up to Ella's room crying.

"Here. We'll go talk with her."

* * *

><p>Donna knocked gently on Ella's door, John was just behind her. There was no answer, she looked back at John desperately and went inside.<p>

Ella was sitting on the bed. Her face was red, she had clearly been crying.

"What are you doing in here? Don't you want to go down and enjoy the rest of your party?," asked Donna.

"No one is coming," said Ella. They could hear the screaming from Josh's party from the window at the head of Ella's bed.

"What? No, Sophie and Kylie are here, aren't they? Right?," Donna said looking at John.

"Of course! Good old Kylie and Sophie!," he added.

Ella didn't look at them. "They had to come because Auntie Nerys is your friend."

This was, of course, the truth and Donna knew it, but denied it. "No, they came for your party."

"They went to Josh's party. Everyone hates me."

"No! No, they don't." She sat down next to her on the bed. "No one hates you."

"I want to go back to bed." Ella curled into a ball and buried her face in the pillows.

"No, I can't let you go back to bed. I'm your mummy and it is my job to salvage this day."

"I don't want a party, I just want to go back to bed. Please," she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"No," said Donna. She felt tears on her face and hurried to wipe them away. "Please, Ella..."

"No."

Donna couldn't help it, between hormones and how distraught Ella was, she started full on sobbing.

"Oh, Donna," said John, taking her into his arms.

"I just want her to have a lovely birthday," said Donna.

"Of course you do."

"I'm sorry, Mummy," said Ella, having emerged at the sound of her mother crying.

Donna froze, tears stopping out of shock. "What are you sorry for?"

"That no one likes me so no one came because they think I'm stupid. Maybe they'll like the new baby."

"Ella, you don't have to be sorry. Mummy's just crying because she's sad for you," said John.

Ella looked back at Donna. "Really?"

"Yes! Of course," said Donna, sweeping Ella into her embrace. "Because that's what it's like when you're a mummy. You want your babies to have everything they deserve and when they don't get it, it's worse than when you don't get something. Right, John?"

"Right." He took a seat on the other side of Ella. "Ella, do you think we're trying to replace you?"

Ella nodded.

"That's not true," said Donna. "We could never replace you. We'd never want to!"

"Ella," said John, "you're brilliant and you're special in ways you don't even realize yet and sometimes when you're so brilliant and so special it frightens people and they don't know how to deal with it so they cast you out, they make fun of you. You have to give it time."

"How much time?," Ella said plaintively.

John shrugged. "No telling really."

Donna cast him a dirty look. She turned Ella's chin to face her. "They'll figure it out. In the meantime, you have your family."

"Not Daddy," said Ella.

Donna sighed. "Yeah, your dad still hasn't figured out how special you and your brother are, but John and I know."

Ella didn't answer.

"Tell you what," said Donna, "we'll clean ourselves up and go back down to the party and you start thinking of what you want to do most in the whole wide world and we will do it tomorrow."

"Anything?," asked Ella.

"Anything."

* * *

><p>They went back downstairs and the party gathered round as Josh and Ella got ready to blow out a nine candle each on both sides of the cake.<p>

Ella knew what her wish was, closing her eyes and hoping that it would come true with everything she had.

When she looked up and opened her eyes as the partygoers applauded, she knew it hadn't happened.

Because her monster was standing in the corner.

She turned back around and wrapped her arms around her mum.

Donna looked up and across to the corner, then back down at Ella as she rubbed her back. "Come on, sweetheart, pick out a piece of the cake. You want one with a flower, don't you?"


	24. The Key

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Doctor, the Duplicate Doctor, Rose or Madame Kovarian. Thank you for the reads and follows and reviews. They mean a lot to me, honestly. So, please enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think! Thanks!

* * *

><p>John woke up to the sound of screaming in the wardrobe. He stirred, recognizing it wasn't the sort of life and death screaming he was accustomed to.<p>

He walked in to find Donna, struggling to find an outfit. She turned as she tried to zip up a dress.

"Look at this!," she said, pointing at her baby bump. "Nothing fits! Did this thing get bigger overnight? Is this some Time Lord thing you failed to warn me about? The sudden inability to fit into your own clothes?"

"You don't look any bigger than you did last night," said John.

"My breasts are enormous," muttered Donna. "Not that they were ever small... It's like trying to keep cantaloupes in here."

"I think they're lovely."

"Yes, well, you are a tit man," said Donna. She struggled to work back out of the dress. "I have to find something to wear to work."

John helped her pull the dress back down over her bump and kissed her on the shoulder. "You are beautiful."

Donna sighed. "Maybe I can go to work in my dressing gown."

"Don't you have something left over from Josh and Ella?"

"That was nine years ago, John. Besides, I gave them to Nerys."

He looked around and pulled out a wrap dress. "What about this?"

She appraised it. "If I wear a cami to cover my chest, it may do." She gave him a peck. "Thanks."

John started getting dressed in his small section of Donna's walk-in wardrobe. She seemed to have clothes for everything here: evening gowns, work outfits, home outfits, mum at school outfits, jewelry, shelves of shoes, towers of hatboxes and two drawers of lingerie that John was quite fond of.

"I need to shop for new clothes anyway," sighed Donna. "I'll have to ring my personal shopper and tell her it's an emergency." She faced him as she tied the belt of the dress over her bump. "I'm having no luck for finding a school for Ella."

"Are you certain you want to split her and Josh up?"

Donna shook her head. "I don't see that I have a choice. I can't even find anyone willing to hear me out, there's not a space at a bloody priivate primary school in West London and the bloody Notting Hill council woman put me on a waiting list. I think I heard her laughing as I left. I should just buy a bloody school and not let any of thoses bitches enroll their children."

"It's almost September, Donna."

"I know..." Donna put her head in John's chest. "She's going to have to go back there, isn't she?"

He stroked her hair. "She'll be fine."

* * *

><p>John didn't relish his job at this moment.<p>

Interrogating the members of the Silence they had rounded up at the warehouse was extremely slow going. For one thing, they weren't exactly a talkative bunch. They gave one word answers and they certainly had nothing to say about what the Silence were doing on Earth and what they might want.

Then sometimes the ones who spoke didn't seem to know anything.

John sat in with Gwen for their latest chat with a young man called Ephraim. He was one of the more talkative ones who didn't seem to know much of anything.

John put the eyepatch down in front of him.

"What's that for?," he asked, pointing at the eyepatch.

Gwen and John studied him carefully. He picked it up and held it like an Alzheimer's patient who had forgotten what car keys were meant to do.

"I don't know," Ephraim finally concluded.

"You don't know?," asked Gwen.

"No."

"Then why were you wearing it at the warehouse?"

"Was I?"

"We've had enough of these games, Ephraim," said Gwen. "It's about time you level with us."

"Do you remember putting it on?," John asked softly. He was currently playing good cop. Everyone played good cop to Gwen.

He nodded. "Long ago. When I joined the Silence."

"What was that like?," asked John, ignoring Gwen's roll of her eyes. "Why did you join? Must have been a big decision."

"The prophecy."

"And what's 'the prophecy'?," asked Gwen.

This Ephraim seemed to know by heart, "On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the eleventh, when no living creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a Question will be asked, a question that must never, ever be answered."

"Eleventh what?," asked Gwen.

"What's the question?," asked John.

"The oldest question in the universe, that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight."

"What's that then?," asked John.

Ephraim looked at John, practically boring holes into him. "You don't know?"

* * *

><p>"The question," started John, writing on the dry erase board in the main room of the Extraterrestrial Desk, "question, question, question. Oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."<p>

"Why did the chicken cross the road?," proposed Gwen.

"How much vermouth in a good Martini?," asked Jack.

Amy smiled at the proposed questions. "Silence will fall when the question is asked," said Amy. "That's all I know. Never got anyone to actually say what the bloody question is."

"Wait, do they want the question asked or not?," asked Jack.

"Secret of the universe, you'd think they would want to know," said Adeola.

"Why is it a secret?," asked John. "If it's in plain sight, why is it a secret? Some fundamental truth, obscured by time?" His voice trailed off and he began frantically writing on the board. "Anyway, let's go over what we do know. The Silence has memory proof aliens that absolutely no one can remember seeing? Correct?"

"Correct," said Amy. "I must have seen them hundreds of times and I have no idea what they look like."

"They are at war with the Time Lords. They tried to create their own Time Lord..."

"John," said Jack.

"Uh-huh?"

"You're writing in Gallifreyan."

John looked back to see that he was in fact writing in Gallifreyan on the board. "Sorry. Thought I'd forgotten how to do that."

"It's all circles," said Gwen. "How can you possibly tell what that's meant to be?"

John shook his head. "I didn't think I could anymore. My brain may be part Time Lord, but the human bits, trying to process it all, I thought this had gotten pushed out."

"So, isn't that a good thing? You haven't lost it?," asked Amy.

John nodded. "It is." He sighed. "Wait a minute."

The four watched in confusion as John erased a portion of the board to start writing in what looked like cuneiform. He stopped, seeming satisfied with himself.

"What is that?," asked Jack.

"That's the preamble of The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey in Old High Gallifreyan. I had to write it as punishment most of my first year at the Academy. I can't believe I can remember that, too."

"Got something you can write in Low Gallifreyan?," teased Gwen. "Some dirty words or something?"

"That's really weird," said John. "Adeola, let's go to the clinic. You can give me a scan."

"A scan?," asked Adeola.

"What?," asked Amy. "Something must be wrong because you can remember what you did in primary school?"

"Humor me," said John, popping the cap back on the dry erase marker. "If my brain is about to explode, I think I should give Donna fair warning."

* * *

><p>John came out of the scanner room. It had been a long hour, made longer by his complete inability to not talk and stay still. Adeola looked up at him, not a little perturbed.<p>

"All clear. Same brain you've always had."

John cleared his throat. "Since I've had a brain..."

She looked at him quizzically.

"Anyway," said John, "still doesn't explain my sudden ability to remember and use High Gallifreyan."

Adeola shrugged. "It doesn't mean anything. Old memories awaken, it's what they do."

"Not for me. I forget."

"Sorry, John, but your head is not going to explode. You are going to have to spend the rest of your life as human as the rest of us."

"Silence will fall when the question is asked..." John pondered again. "The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight..."

* * *

><p>Life at the mental hospital was not pleasant for Rose Tyler. There were twice daily individual therapy sessions with a psychiatrist who just did not understand how much the Doctor truly loved her. Then she had a daily group therapy session where drug addicts and manic depressives looked at her like she was the mad one when they were so clearly the ones with problems. Twice daily she had the same arguments with the nursing staff over medication. There wasn't anything wrong with her, she didn't need it. Throw in the odd puzzle making or art therapy and the constant barrage of the Noble Family of Networks, that name a constant reminder on the corner of the telly and that was Rose's routine.<p>

Rose was not getting many visitors at the mental hospital these days. Life was like that when you alienated what few friends you had made in a new universe and when you made a point of telling your parents to bugger off. Jackie still visited in spite of herself and even though there was nothing to be gained from such interactions.

Madame Kovarian was her only consistent visitor, coming once a week to offer comfort and of course, ask probing questions.

"When you came to this universe, you had a key to the Doctor's TARDIS, didn't you?"

"Yeah," said Rose. It was her last link with her old life, her real life, travelling with the Doctor, the life that she was supposed to have, not Donna Noble. She was supposed to be with the Doctor.

"I think you always carried it, didn't you?," Kovarian prodded. "I think you always kept it safe as a reminder of the Doctor."

"Yeah," said Rose so softly it was barely audible. But Kovarian understood what she had said well enough. "I always had it. Everywhere. It's the only real thing here."

"Do you have it now?," asked Kovarian.

Rose looked up, suddenly curious. "Why? Why do you need it?"

"It will help us locate the Doctor, it carries a signature from your universe to help us get there. Use the key to track it back to its source, the TARDIS."

Rose looked behind Kovarian and thought she saw something, she looked back at Kovarian, startled.

"I, I don't have it," Rose said.

"Are you lying, Rose?"

"No, never!" She sighed. "I left it at Torchwood, security took it when I got banned from the building. The committee said the perception filter shouldn't be left in my hands," she finished with a disdainful roll of her eyes.

"Well, then," said Kovarian, "we'll just have to get it back, won't we?"

"Yeah," said Rose.


	25. Breach

Author's Notes: I do not own, Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, the Alternate Donna or any of it. They all belong to the BBC who had left this unexplored and probably wants me to think the Duplicate Doctor is happy with Rose in Pete's World. Really? Is anyone buying that? So, thanks for the reads and reviews and hello, lurkers! I appreciate it all and hope to hear from you more about what you think of this chapter!

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><p>Donna really liked being a mum, honestly, but some days it was just a rubbish job she felt like she had failed at. The first time was when she explained to Josh and Ella that Mummy and Daddy would not be living together anymore. Then every time after that when she had to explain that Daddy was off with his new girlfriend at some nude beach and wasn't going to be able to see them.<p>

This was going up there.

It was the day before the first day of the autumn term. She usually looked forward to this. She took a rare short day at work and came home to have a final once-over of the kid's school uniforms and sort their book bags and gym kits. They went to lunch, then usually an outing to the zoo or something, complete with ice cream and treats.

She felt like a total failure this year. She hadn't been able to find a place for Ella anywhere, there was talk of something at some school in South London where there had recently been a stabbing, so nothing Donna was going to actually do. She was going to have to send Ella back to her school, with the bint mothers and the best Donna could hope for was that their bints in training daughters would ignore her.

The worst part was that Ella knew Donna was lying when she promised everything would be alright. Donna could tell. So she had rounded up Josh and Ella and taken them to Torchwood.

"Donna!," exclaimed John. He greeted her with a kiss. "What are you all doing here?"

Donna smiled. "Well, we Nobles have a last day before school tradition of lunch and wondered if you would like to partake."

"And ice cream!," added Josh.

"And ice cream," Donna sighed.

"I would love to partake," John smiled.

"Donna!," exclaimed Adeola, as she came over, quickly followed by Gwen. "You look wonderful."

Donna motioned at John. "No thanks to him."

They started asking all sorts of baby questions and John saw the kids growing bored. He ushered them over to his office.

"Cool!," said Josh. "I can see all the way down the river from here!"

John looked at Ella, who sat in his chair. He walked over and sat on the desk. "What's wrong?"

"School," said Ella.

"Oh. School," John said sympathetically.

"Could you talk to Mummy?," asked Ella.

"About school?"

"She'd listen to you if you told her not to send me."

"Ella..." He paused. "You want to know something about time?"

She looked like she didn't but John knew she would listen anyway. He took a breath.

"You think you're big now, but really you're little. And things seem big now because proportionally they make up a bigger piece of your life. It's like, it's like Christmas. You know how long it takes for Christmas to come?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, when you get to be your mummy's age they come fast and at my age they come lightning fast. Someday school and those mean girls will be a tiny, insignificant part of your life. You won't even remember their names. But they'll all remember you because you'll be Ella Noble, that brilliant girl."

There was a knock on the door. Amy entered holding the hand of a man in jeans and a plaid shirt, with a nose John couldn't fail to notice.

"I'm not interrupting, am I?," asked Amy.

"No. Amy, this is my stepdaughter, Ella and my stepson, Josh."

"Hello," said Amy. She smiled. "This is my boyfriend I was telling you about."

"Right," said John, shaking hands, "Ronny?"

"Rory," he said.

"Right, Rory."

"He surprised me. He's taking me to lunch. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine." He looked up to notice Donna entering, taking a good look at Amy as she came in. "Donna, this is Amy and Rory."

"Hello," Donna said crisply.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you, Donna. When John's not talking about work, all he talks about is his family," said Amy. "Everyone here loves him."

"Well, we're pretty fond of him ourselves," said Donna.

Jack entered with a question for Amy about some paperwork. Donna turned to John. "So, you hired her then?"

"Yes."

"Pretty."

John sighed. "I hadn't noticed."

"You'd have to be blind not to," she whispered.

"Not why I hired her and besides, there's only one woman for me."

"Oh, I'd love to meet her," said Donna.

John was about to make another retort of his own when an alarm sounded. Metal shutters came down over the windows of the office, obstructing Josh's view.

"What's that?," asked Ella.

Donna answered, fearing John would make the mistake of telling her the truth. "Just a fire drill, sweetheart."

"Yeah," said John. "Rory, Donna, why don't you all stay in here?"

Amy and John walked out into the main room. The weapons lockers were opened and Gwen was passing out guns.

"What's going on?"

"There's a security breach on levels four and five," said Jack.

"The cells," said John.

"What's level four?," asked Amy.

"The Torchwood vault," he answered. "We've got to get down there."

John looked back to see Donna standing at his office door. He hurried back. "Wait here."

"What's going on?"

"Security trouble," he said. "Just stay here. This section will be locked off. You'll be safe. I'll be back."

"Do not get shot again," said Donna being quite serious.

"Not planning on it," he said, giving her a kiss.

They geared up. John took a gun that Gwen insisted on giving him that he had no intention of using. They got in the lift.

"If it's the Silence," said Amy, "you have to remember that you can't turn your back on their monsters. Once you look away, you'll forget everything, won't know what you were shooting at. Keep at least one in your sight."

"How am I going to forget what I'm shooting at?," asked Gwen.

"Are the recorders in the Kevlar working?," asked John.

"Still experimental," said Adeola. "And only a few of us have them."

"Better than nothing," said John. "It was a good idea, Amy."

"Thanks," said Amy.

The lift opened on level five. They walked out, guns drawn.

"What?," John said suddenly, looking back at Amy.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "John, there was one right now, just in front of you. Keep looking at it."

John tried to process it. It was the strangest thing ever. He looked back in front of him and yes, there was some kind of monster, a race he didn't recognize. A bulbous head, dark eyes, long limbs and why was it wearing a black suit and tie? It hardly needed to blend in, John couldn't remember seeing them! No one could!

"Who are you?," he said. "I demand you identify yourselves!"

Some sort of electricity started in its hand and Gwen shot at it, it fell to the floor. They moved down the hall, to find the cell doors opened and their prisoners from the warehouse were wearing eye patches again, even Ephraim. They all seemed to point their guns at John.

"Ephraim, what's going on here?"

"Stop!," he heard a woman shout.

John watched as a woman in a black leather suit approached wearing an eye patch.

Madame Kovarian turned to Ephraim. "Not him. He's necessary."

"Necessary for what?," demanded John, looking at one of the Silence's creatures.

She smiled. "All in good time."

"What are you doing here?"

"Picking up something for a friend."

There was an explosion, causing John and the others to be blown back further in the hallway. John helped Adeola up off the debris ridden floor as she coughed on the smoke.

"What the hell happened?," said John. He looked at Amy. "We forgot, didn't we?"

She nodded. "You get the hang of it."

"They're going to bloody get away," said Gwen, picking herself up off the floor.

"Well, I'm not seeing what we can do about that," said Jack.

John walked over to a panel and popped off the lid.

"What are you doing?," asked Amy.

"Seeing if I can lock down the vault further," said John. He played with the panel, trying to log into the building's security protocols.

They heard another explosion, below them.

"Well, never mind," said John.

Another alarm sounded.

"Evacuation," said Adeola.

"I can't. I've got to go back and get Donna and the kids."

"They'll send the sweeper teams through," Adeola insisted.

"No, I've got to go," said John. "The rest of you, get out, find one of the mobile command vehicles, log in and see if you can track whatever mode of transportation to get out of here."

"Mode of transportation?," asked Gwen.

"Every heist has a wheel man," said John. "Blimey, haven't you seen any films?"

"I'm coming with you," said Amy. "For Rory."

"No, you go. I'll get Ronny."

"Rory!"

"Whatever, I'll get him. Guy with the nose. I know who he is."

"Should you be talking about people's noses?," said Amy.

"What's wrong with my nose?"

"I'll go with John," said Jack. "You ladies should go."

"Oh, now he's chivalrous!," said Gwen.

"You have your orders," said John.

* * *

><p>Donna was terrified and just sitting, not her favorite combination. She sat between Josh and Ella, making small talk with Amy's boyfriend that neither of them were interested in when a Torchwood tactical team burst in the office, guns drawn.<p>

"Who are you?," demanded the leader.

"Visitors!," answered Rory. He held up the visitor lanyard around his neck. "See?"

"I have to see them!"

Donna held up hers, then Josh and Ella's because the children were too scared to move.

"Sorry about that," the leader dropped his gun. "Lieutenant Ross. We have to evacuate the building."

"My husband, John Smith, said he would be back," said Donna.

"The building's been compromised, ma'am," said Ross. "There's a fire and you must have felt the explosions."

"What about John?," said Josh.

"Mr. Smith will have to evacuate as well," said Ross. "Sorry, sir, ma'am, we must go now."

"Right." Donna grabbed her bag and looked at Josh and Ella. "Sweethearts, we have to go. I just need you to be very brave and hold my hand and we'll see John outside and everything will be fine. Understood?"

"Yeah," said Josh.

"Yes," Ella said quietly.

Donna took Ella in one hand and Josh in the other and started out following Rory and the soldiers. They went out the hall and into the emergency stairwell. The air was filled with smoke and the noise of the alarms. Donna heard Josh coughing and made him hold on to the hem of her top while she rustled in her bag for an Hermes scarf and told him to hold it over his mouth and nose.

"Are you alright, Ella?," asked Donna, not knowing what to offer her if she wasn't.

"Yes."

"Try not to take such deep breaths," Rory said to Josh. "I know it's hard when you're excited, but keep your breathing nice and steady, like you're bouncing a ball, okay?"

Josh nodded.

"You're good," said Donna.

"I'm a nurse," Rory shrugged. "I work in pediatrics a lot."

"We'll get medical attention outside, ma'am," said Ross.

Donna looked at the wall. They were on level ten, making good progress. In front of them, a security camera shorted out, giving them a good startle.

"Side effect of the fire," said Ross. "Just need to move quicker."

Donna gripped her children's hands tighter, looking at Josh frequently. They increased their speed and were down to eight when Donna heard screaming and saw a woman running back up.

"What are you doing? Down!," shouted Ross.

"I'll get her, sir," said one of the others.

"Maintain contact," instructed Ross.

They headed down and saw what the woman had been screaming about. There was a stampede at about level five.

"That's my monster!," shouted Ella.

Donna looked ahead at what was definitely a monster with a big head and dark eyes and long limbs. This was Ella's monster? What? It was real?

"What?," asked Donna, looking back at Ella, completely forgetting what the hell she was talking about.

Then she looked back. There was a monster.

"See, Mummy? See? I'm not lying! That's my monster!"

"Okay," said Donna, "it's okay." She didn't take her eyes off the thing, just held on to her children tighter.

"Weapons!," shouted Ross as though he saw monsters in stairwells all the time. He turned to Donna and Rory. "Sir, ma'am, take the children. We'll cover you."

"What is that thing?," asked Rory.

"Some kind of alien," said Ross. "Don't worry. Apparently you don't remember them after you take your eyes off them."

"Oh, that's comforting," said Rory.

"Go," shouted Ross. "Go!"

Rory and Donna made a break for it with the children. Josh almost fell, but Rory caught him.

"Mummy!,' shouted Ella.

Donna looked back to see Ella desperately struggling to hold on to her with one arm and being pulled by the monster with the other.

"Cease fire!," shouted Ross, not wanting Ella to catch a stray bullet.

"You let go of her!," shouted Donna. "Let go of my baby! I swear to God, I'll rip your eyes out!"

Ella screamed, the monster didn't loosen his grip and Donna continued shouting a stream of profanity at it. Ross joined in to help as Ella screamed more.

Then Donna blinked and in an instant, everything had changed. She looked back down the stairwell to see Josh, standing with Rory.

"Where's Ella?," Donna screamed.

"The creature took her, ma'am," said Ross.

"Mummy!," Donna somehow heard Ella scream over the sirens, fire and noise. "Don't let the monster get me!"

"I'm coming!," Donna shouted, ready to run down the corridor when she felt Ross holding her back. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Ma'am, you have to get out!"

"Not without her!"

"Mummy!," shouted Josh.

She looked back at her son, desperately.

"Mummy, come on!," he said.

Rory looked at Donna, understanding. "Don't worry. I'll get him outside and find your husband."

"Thank you," said Donna. She looked at Josh. "Mummy loves you and someday when you have children you'll understand this." She sighed and looked at Ross. "Sorry about this."

"Sorry about what, ma'am?"

She elbowed Ross, kicked him in a rather sensitive area and twisted around to get out of his grip, sprinting into the corridor where she could still just barely hear Ella's screams.

Yes, Nerys had been right.

The Women's Krav Maga Self Defense Seminar she'd dragged Donna to after Ethan tried to kill her was rather empowering.

"I'm coming, Ella!," she shouted as loudly as she could.

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><p>Author's Notes: Yes, I know. Cliffhangers.<p> 


	26. Unto The Breach

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry about the cliffhanger last time. So, please enjoy and let me know what you think.

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><p>John and Jack made their way back up to find another sweeper team telling them that the level had been evacuated and yes, a man, a woman and two children had been evacuated from level ten.<p>

John hurried back down the steps eager to be reunited with his family. Instead, he found Josh with Ronny-Rory.

"Josh, what's happened? Where are your mum and Ella?"

"She went back," sobbed Josh.

"Back? What do you mean she went back?" He looked at Rory.

"Something happened with the aliens you can't remember. They took Ella. Donna went after her, some of the soldiers followed her, I came out with Josh."

"They took Ella?," said John. "Why would they do that?"

"I have no idea," said Jack. "I thought they only took Time Babies."

"I'm going back in," said John.

"Half the building's on fire!," said Jack.

"Yes! And my wife and my daughter and my baby are in there!," shouted John.

"You know you don't regenerate, right?," asked Jack.

John looked at Rory, purposefully ignoring Jack. "Can you stay with him a bit longer?"

Rory shrugged. "Yeah, I left my wallet up there so my plans for the day are pretty much out of the question."

John took out a piece of paper and scribbled Lisette's mobile on it. "This is our nanny. Ring her to come collect him as soon as she can. Thank you." John knelt down to Josh. "Josh, I have to leave right now, but I am coming back with your mum and your sisters, safe and sound."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

* * *

><p>The air inside Torchwood was thick with smoke and Donna struggled to see through it as she searched for Ella.<p>

She walked through another hazy cloud, past strewn furniture and nearly tripped over a body on the floor. She had to stop and collect herself for a moment, she hadn't seen anything like this since the night of the Cybermen and was really in no hurry to revisit the experience. She had been at work when the strange signals started on the Earpods and seemed to be the only one who just took them out. She had stopped as many of her employees as she could and taken out theirs, whatever everyone was marching towards could not be good. Then the Cybermen had come, looking for stragglers, compelling them by any means necessary. She and the others hid in an office on the uppermost floor, waiting it out, helpless. She wondered about her mum and dad, about Ethan. Then somehow it ended.

Donna found herself in the midst of eye patch wearing men with guns pointed at her. She swallowed.

"I'm Donna Noble and you had better take me to my daughter."

One cocked his gun and Donna waited, thinking this was the end and this was a completely unspectacular rescue. Then one of the monsters was behind the man, almost whispering into his ear. He put his gun down and the soldiers started walking away. The monster turned to leave, Donna feared she would lose track of it and all hope of finding Ella would evaporate.

"Oi! Big head!," said Donna.

The creature turned back to look at her.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you! You see anyone else in here with as big a head as yours?"

It tilted its head at Donna, as if it was trying to figure her out.

"Where's my daughter?"

It adjusted something on its wrist, looking like a watch. It spoke.

"You should leave." The voice was raspy and sounded a bit like it had been run through a computer.

"Not without her."

That seemed to confound it more. "Why don't you listen?"

Donna shrugged. "Never have really."

The men with eye patches suddenly took her by the arm and were dragging Donna off.

* * *

><p>John had found his way back up to level four. That's where they would be gathered. He got out the sonic screwdriver and lit up the last functioning security panel on the level and quickly flicked through the remaining functioning cameras to try to find his girls.<p>

His heart sank when he found a surveillance camera that placed Ella by the vault, surrounded by the monsters of the Silence.

"Oh, no you don't."

He then realized what was sitting across from Ella, going through inventory before being placed in the vault.

"Well, that might be useful..."

* * *

><p>Ella decided that her monster had definitely gotten worse.<p>

Because now there were ten of them, all staring at her in some big room with a lot of things Ella didn't recognize. They were surrounded by people with eye patches and guns, who shouted things and were searching for something. The monsters looked at her and took turns speaking in some language Ella didn't understand.

"Could I please go back to my mummy?," Ella asked, hoping her pleading would work. "I'll be good, I won't tell anyone I saw you."

Ella heard the clack of high heels and the monsters parted, revealing a woman in a black leather suit, wearing an eye patch.

"This wasn't part of the plan," she said, motioning at Ella. "You can't upset the Noble woman now when we're so close to having all the pieces."

"Please don't hurt my mummy," said Ella. The woman turned back to face her.

"No one is going to hurt your mummy," said the woman, dripping with disdain. "You're causing a problem, though. You're making her worry with your stories about monsters. Do you want her to leave like your daddy left you?"

Ella shook her head. "Mummy wouldn't leave."

"Then John. John will leave, won't he?"

"How about no?"

Madame Kovarian turned around to see John Smith pointing a gun at her, the monsters had cleared out of his way. Ella grinned.

"Daddy!"

John was surprised at the new title, but was focused on the task at hand. "Ella, just stay there. I'm coming to you."

"How did you get back here?," Kovarian snapped.

"On your orders, remember? You said I was necessary. What for?" He rotated carefully, trying to move in front of Ella and keep an eye on the monsters. "And what do you want with Ella? She's just a little girl. Then again, I hear that's a talent of yours, taking away little girls. Does that make you feel important? Tell me, do all your plans for dominating the universe involve stealing babies?"

"Mummy!"

John used one eye to see Donna being brought in by two of the men with eye patches. They shoved her by Kovarian.

"Are you alright, Donna?"

"Oh, I'm super. You?"

"Sort of a rough day at the office."

"I can see that. The place is a shambles." She moved to be by Ella and the girl threw her arms around her.

Kovarian looked at Donna with glee. "Well, then, it's Mummy. Mummy and Daddy. Aren't we one happy family?"

It clicked in Donna's head. "Oh, my God! You're the weird lady from the fertility clinic!"

"What?," said John.

"Remember? I told you! S&M pirate fetish lady!"

"What's S&M?," asked Ella.

"Nothing," John and Donna quickly answered.

John looked at Kovarian. "What are you lot trying to do? Why the interest in my family?"

"Oh, can't figure it out?"

Ephraim approached Kovarian, coming out of the vault. "There's no key, Madame."

"What do you mean there's no key? She said it would be here!"

"I'm sorry, Madame."

"Well, look again!" She looked back at John. "Are you going to keep pointing that gun at me? We know you won't shoot me."

"Oh, I'm not going to shoot you," said John.

"Well, let me then!," said Donna.

"I'm going to shoot that," said John.

"Shoot what?"

John fired the weapon, shooting across at the obelisk. It exploded into brilliant color and John dropped the gun, grabbing Donna and Ella's hands, running for the exit before it could fully explode.

"What was that?," shouted Donna.

"Kolecchian pulse! Should zap everyone for a good while!" He stopped. "Why were we running?"

"The monsters!," Ella screamed insistently.

"Right," said John. "Brilliant Ella. Come on! Stairs are this way!"

"Daddy!," she screamed.

John saw another monster behind him. He put himself between it and Donna and Ella.

"These are my girls. You're not going to hurt them."

It reached out and they were surprised as John pulled a gun from his pocket, shooting the monster, which fell to the ground.

"Come on," said John.

They arrived at the stairs seeing some of the burnt bodies of Torchwood employees on the landing. Donna pushed Ella against her, hiding her eyes.

"Here, sweetheart," said John, scooping her up. She needed no encouragement to wrap her arms and legs around him. "Just close your eyes and we'll be out of here soon."

"John..." she said.

"What is it, sweetheart?," he asked surveying the stairs as he held Donna's hand.

"I called you Daddy because it was an emergency."

"Oh, okay..."

Donna smiled despite herself. "Ella, are you trying to ask something?"

"Can I still call you Daddy?"

John grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "I would love it, but only if you want to."

"I want to."

They made it to the ground level. The emergency crews still worked furiously and they had cleared Canary Wharf. John rushed with Ella and Donna to the Torchwood vehicle he had ordered Gwen, Adeola and Amy to.

"There's no support vehicle!," said Adeola. "Just a massive energy spike!"

John looked at the readings. "Oh. Teleportation! That's just not fair!"

Donna collapsed in a chair without invitation. Ella climbed on her lap.

"You spoke with them, yeah?," asked Amy. "Did they say what they wanted?"

John shrugged. "The key to something."

"Key?," asked Jack.

"Yeah." John looked at Donna. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just adrenaline, wearing off," said Donna. She pulled Ella against her.

"Thank you for coming, Mummy."

Donna looked at her squarely. "Mummies always come for their babies, Ella. Always." She kissed her and looked at John. "Where's Josh?"

Amy answered. "My boyfriend stayed with him until your nanny came to collect him."

"Oh, well, tell Rory thank you."

Donna squeezed Ella tightly against her. She could hardly believe it. Her little girl was being visited by monsters, actual monsters. Donna had never stopped believing that Ella saw monsters, she just never realized that they could be real, real. And they were some kind of alien? What the hell did they want with her daughter?

What were they doing with the S&M pirate fetish lady from the fertility clinic? What the hell had she wanted?


	27. Rebuilding

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, the Alternate Donna or Jackie, who there is only one of. Thanks for the reads and the reviews. I love hearing from you. Enjoy and please let me know what you think of this one!

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><p>Donna had been in the nursery for hours watching John.<p>

She was seriously starting to wonder why.

"John," Donna said for what seemed like the millionth time, "you don't have to put the cot together."

John turned the sheet of instructions around yet again, as if it would help. "Are these even in proper English?"

"I can just hire someone to put it together."

He looked at her, shocked. "Are you saying I can't put my own baby's cot together?"

Donna shrugged. It was almost the baby's due date and she was finally at home, waiting which seemed to be taking forever. She was glad she hadn't had to go on bed rest this time, she didn't know that she could have borne it, but she was making a conscientious effort to relax. John was taking shorter days at Torchwood under the pretense of keeping her company and at some point he had decided it was his paternal duty to assemble the cot. Only he didn't seem to be very good at it. At all. She was relieved to at least find he had a fault.

"I can do this, Donna. It would just be easier with proper instructions!"

Donna nodded. She heard the door open.

"Mummy!," shouted Ella.

"We're upstairs, darlings!," Donna called back.

She heard frantic running up the stairs, Josh and Ella bounded in the nursery.

"Are you still in here?," asked Josh.

John shot the boy a look.

"Kisses," said Donna, carefully leaning down with her heavily pregnant belly to the children. "How was school?"

"Alright," said Josh.

"Alright?," questioned John as he held his head up to get a kiss on the cheek from Ella. "How was your maths test?"

Donna looked at Josh. "How was it?"

"I did okay. Just four wrong!"

"Well," said Donna, "that's-"

John looked up. "How many problems on the test?"

"Ten..."

"Oh, sweetheart," said Donna.

"It's alright," said John. "We'll go over it together after I'm finished here."

Josh looked at Donna despairingly.

"Yeah, I know," said Donna. "Go change into your play clothes."

Josh left, Ella moved to follow when Donna said, "Sweetheart, you didn't say how school was."

Ella looked up. "Okay."

"The other girls, did you talk to any of them?"

"Yes, Mummy."

Donna smiled. "You don't have to lie to me just to make me feel better, you know. I know it's not easy and now you've got a bodyguard..."

"I'm okay, Mummy."

"You can tell us anything, Ella, you know that, don't you?," asked John, leaving the cot assembly for a moment.

"Yes, Daddy."

"If you're having problems, we want you to tell us," said Donna.

"Okay," said Ella.

"Go change," said Donna. "Then get a snack, okay?"

Ella ran off.

"She's still having problems," said Donna as Ella ran off.

"She needs the security," insisted John. "At least until I understand what the Silence want."

"I know," said Donna, rubbing her belly. "I want my children safe."

John's mobile rang as he kissed Donna. He picked it up off the floor.

"How's the nursery going?," asked Amy.

"I'm almost there."

"You still haven't got the cot yet, have you?" He could hear the smile on her face and it irritated him to no end.

"Is that why you rang?," he asked haughtily.

"No, I rang because we have just about finished putting the vault inventory computer back together from when you blew it up."

"I had an incredibly good reason at the time."

"Anyway... I.T. says it ought to be another hour, care to join us or shall we wait until tomorrow?"

"I've already waited six months," said John.

"In their defense, most of the building was destroyed," said Amy.

"I'll be down." He hung up the phone and looked at Donna.

"Off to work?," she asked.

"I'm sorry, they're about to have the vault computer working. We can finally find out what the Silence were after that day."

Donna nodded. "It's alright. I understand. I'll get someone to finish the cot."

"I'm finishing the cot!," John protested.

"Yeah, whatever you say, sweetheart," she said, giving him a peck on the lips.

* * *

><p>While the offices at Canary Wharf were being rebuilt, Torchwood was being operated out of spare government offices throughout the city. Some departments were situated in the former Lumic buildings which hadn't been used in years. John considered his department lucky in that his department, for security reasons, had been placed in one of the former underground headquarters of the President of Great Britain, first used by President Churchill during the Old German Occupation. Amy had been quite excited by the history behind it and John feigned enthusiasm, but he had to admit it was quite nice. He even had Churchill's old officesleeping quarters. That was something.

"So!," he said. "Keys, keys, kays. What sort of keys have we got?"

He expected Gwen, Adeola, Amy and Jack to be cheerful. After all, they had been waiting six bloody months for this thing to come online and John hated waiting!

"What? It's not ready, is it? Where is bloody I.T.?" He looked around. "On another bloody coffee break, I suppose? Typical! Not like there's a rush or anything! I'm going to let them have it this time."

"No, it works. We got the inventory back," said Adeola.

"Brilliant! So, let's go through the search engine, figure out what sort of keys the Silence might be after..."

"I think we know," said Amy.

"That easy?," asked John. "But there must be hundreds of keys in the Torchwood vault..."

"Rose Tyler's TARDIS key," Amy said grimly.

"But they said they hadn't found the key," said John.

"That's because someone checked it out of the vault," said Gwen. "I'll give you three guesses, but you'll only need one."

John banged on the door of the Tyler mansion.

"Jackie!," he shouted. "Open up!"

Amy looked at him frantically. "Do you think they're alright?"

"Ready your weapons," said Jack.

The door opened and Jackie answered. She gave John an exasperated look.

"We're in the middle of supper," she protested.

"Never mind supper, I need to talk to Pete. It's an emergency."

Jack, Amy and John hustled their way in to find that the house was a complete wreck. Furniture turned over, drawers opened, papers everywhere, holes in the walls...

"Jackie, what happened here?"

"What?," she asked and looked at the mess. "It's a bit untidy..."

"Jackie! A bit!"

"Were you robbed?," asked Amy.

"Pete!," shouted John as he fled upstairs.

* * *

><p>John hurried into the study and found it in the same state as the rest of the house.<p>

The computer was fine, though. John looked at it and sat down at the desk just as Pete entered.

"What do you want?"

"The Silence, that's who kidnapped the Master, that's who attacked Canary Wharf and they did it because they were looking for Rose's key to the TARDIS which you checked out of the vault! Where is it?"

"I..." he looked around. "I don't know."

John groaned. "Fat lot of help you are."

Jackie entered frantically, followed by Amy trying to stop her.

"Pete, what's going on?"

"He took Rose's TARDIS key," said John.

"Why's that important? It's just a key, isn't it? Rose carried that thing around with her everywhere."

"A TARDIS key is not just a key," said John. "It's a piece of a living TARDIS. The Silence are at war with the Time Lords, I bet that's why they want the key."

"So, isn't there some kind of safety device on it?," asked Amy. "Shouldn't Rose's key only be able to open the TARDIS that belongs to the TARDIS in your universe?"

"It's not that simple," said John. "If they got someone who was authorized to open it, like you..."

Amy rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure I would remember unlocking the TARDIS!"

"We had better put a security detail on you just the same," said John. He looked at Pete as he unplugged the computer and picked it up. "By the way, I'm taking this. Someone's been spying on you."

"John," said Jackie, "is Rose in any danger?"

"I don't know, Jackie. I'll do my best, meanwhile I'm going to get you a security detail as well. Just in case they decide to come back." He looked at Amy. "We've got to talk to Rose Tyler."


	28. Strange Girl

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna or Rose. Thanks for the reads and reviews and follows. This is a shorter chapter than usual but I have allergies that have worked their way into my sinuses and subsequently my brain, so please forgive me. More is coming. So, please let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

><p>John hadn't seen Rose Tyler since the strangeness that occurred on the night of the wedding. He hadn't really given her much thought, after all, he had been busy with his new family and a new baby on the way. He had a whole world that existed outside of her. He thought of that as somehow strange, time had been when Rose Tyler occupied many of the Doctor's thoughts.<p>

Those days were long gone he thought looking at the woman across the table. She was no longer the sweet, playful, if needy, girl she had been. She looked so foreign compared to that girl, he wasn't certain if he would have picked them as the same person.

For now, Rose was shackled to a table and Gwen sat across from her, looking unhappy. Gwen was across from her.

"Why the shackles?," asked John.

"She tried to bite me," said Gwen.

John cast a glance at Rose. "Seriously?"

"What do you want?," asked Rose.

"We'll be asking the questions here, thank you," said Gwen.

"First off, what have you done with the TARDIS key?"

"Torchwood took it," said Rose.

"Yes and then your dad took it," said John. "Did you know that?"

Rose shrugged. "How should I?"

"Rose, there are people after that key, monsters as well, called the Silence. They broke into your family's home, they were the ones who attacked Torchwood."

Rose stiffened. "What do I care about Torchwood?"

"People died, you little brat," said Gwen.

John paused, studying her. "You're holding something back."

"I don't know what you mean."

John paused. "You used to be a lot of things, Rose. You had flashes of brilliance, you could be kind, compassionate, but the one thing you never were, Rose, you were never a good liar."

She glared at him.

"What do you know about the Silence?," asked John.

Gwen looked at Rose.

"I don't know anything about the Silence," said Rose.

"You disappeared for two months, your mum said. You came back and you were different and Ethan tells me that's when you started seeing him. Where were you?"

"Travelling."

"With who? Was it them? The Silence?"

Rose shook her head. "I don't know anything."

"What have they told you, Rose? What have they promised?"

"More than you have."

Gwen leaned in towards John. "Truth serum?"

"Not yet," said John. "Because see I know you, Rose Tyler, and I know there's just one thing that you want which is too bad because that's the one thing that I know will never ever happen. So, did they Rose? Did they promise to get you back to the Doctor?"

Rose was silent. John took that as confirmation.

"But the Silence want the Doctor dead," said Gwen.

"Rose," said John, "the Silence are at war with the Time Lords of this universe, they want the Doctor of this universe dead. That's who they're at war with."

"I don't care about that. He's not my Doctor."

"And what do you think they'd want with your Doctor if they got a hold of him?," asked Gwen. "You think they'd care? They run round kidnapping babies and..."

John shot Gwen a look to be silent. They quickly hurried out.

"What if they were telling the truth?," asked John once the door was safely locked. "Just sort of. What if they're trying to get to another dimension? Maybe the TARDIS key is the link, an object of that universe enabling them to find it."

"Okay, but why? What do they want there?"

"Time Baby."

"You think they'd go to another universe just to take a Time Baby? That seems like an awful lot of trouble."

"Less trouble than going to Gallifrey to get another one."

"Well, except for the one you're having."

John shook his head. "Mine's mostly human, she's never even been exposed to the Time Vortex, she might be good at maths and a bad swimmer, but not a Time Baby."

Gwen furrowed her brow. "When did anyone say anything about swimming?"

John shrugged.

"This is all well and good but that little bint isn't likely to tell us anything," said Gwen. "I had a mate like her once, she got arrested for stalking Bono from Feedback."

"Feedback? Is that what U2 is called here? Nobody in Virgin Records knew what I was talking about."

Amy rushed in. "John, it's Donna," she said handing him his mobile.

John took the phone anxiously. "Donna?"

"Hi, busy?," asked Donna.

"Well, a bit-"

"Too bad. I'm in labor," she said sharply.

"What? Really?"

"No, I'm just kidding. Why would I be kidding?"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." John hung up. "Uh, I have to go."

"What's going on?," asked Gwen.

"Donna's having the baby, I have to go."

"Well, go then," said Amy, punching him playfully on the shoulder. "Keep us updated, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah," said John.

"What do I do with the mad blonde?"

"Take another run at her and another and another. Get Adeola to file detainment papers. I don't want her going anywhere until we know everything."

"Oh, believe me, I'll get it out of her."

* * *

><p>John ran into the house. He found Donna was with Josh and Ella on the sofa.<p>

"Can't we come, Mummy?," asked Ella.

"Not now, sweetheart," said Donna. "I want you two to go back to bed and to school in the morning, you can come visit me in hospital after school, okay?"

"You're not going to be home by then?," asked Josh.

"No, sweetheart," said Donna.

"How long is this going to take?," he asked appalled.

"You two took thirty hours to come out. It takes as long as it takes, okay? It's all up to the baby and what sort of hurry she's in," She looked up at John.

"Ready to go?," he asked.

"Yes," said Donna. She looked at the children. "Kisses."

Josh and Ella did as they were told. Ella came over to John for a hug.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," said John. "Mummy is going to be fine."

"Are you going to be gone all night, too?"

"Worried about your monster?," he asked.

Ella didn't answer. He knew she didn't want to admit it.

"Well, you have Miss Johnson and Lisette here and you can phone me if you see one. Alright?

"Alright."

They said their final good-byes and John and Donna were off.

* * *

><p>Just not as quickly as Donna would have liked. She sighed and looked at the speedometer.<p>

"I buy you a Mercedes with a sport package and you are going ten miles an hour to the hospital."

"I'm being cautious," said John, letting another car ahead of him.

"Thinking about getting on the motorway?," asked Donna.

"No, we're fine on surface roads."

"It's ten miles."

"You know, John, I could do with getting to the hospital before the baby has her first birthday."

"I went to a place like that once."

"What?"

"You know, it's this planet where everyone was stuck in traffic for years and there were cats."

"Cats?"

"Well, sort of, cat people."

Donna shook her head as a city bus went around them. "Okay, but could we possibly drive any faster on this planet?"

"Fine," John groaned and stepped on the gas.

Donna looked over. "Twenty?"


	29. Birth

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor, Donna or any of it. Oh, as for Time Lords, disclaimer, I never really went for that whole Lungbarrow thing and I find that whole thing unclear so whatever I say is what I'm going with, I don't know if anyone was terribly attached to it and if you are, I'm sorry. Oh, also, sorry about all the delays, I have still been sick. So, thanks for the reads and the reviews, I love hearing what you guys think. Please let me know what you think about this one and happy reading!

* * *

><p>John was starting to think having a baby as a human was not all it was cracked up to be.<p>

He had the Doctor's memories of the process on Gallifrey. Some children on the planet were loomed, but not the Doctor's. The Oracle found that whole process creepy and was fairly convinced it was why the Master was such a weirdo, too much DNA that didn't get mixed well enough. They were both from families who had preferred to bear children, myths or no. Still, the process was very Time Lord, very civilized. A child was concieved, the time for birth determined, pregnancy, then birth. Men were never allowed in the birthing rooms, not because of some need for separation of the sexes, but because they would get in the way. So, he had waited patiently, well, except for that one time he took that short little trip, which he had never heard the end of...

Still, though, it was different being there. For one thing, there was a lot of screaming.

And cursing.

And she might have slapped him when he asked if it was really all that bad.

Still, though, Donna was magnificent and at the end there was a gorgeous little ginger girl. All long limbs and red hair and his brown eyes. Donna was especially pleased with that last part. John was, of course, especially pleased with the ginger part.

Donna looked to John as she cuddled the new baby. He was half asleep in the chair at the bedside.

"Georgiana," she said.

"Hmm, what?," John asked without opening his eyes.

"What do you think of the name Georgiana?"

"Like in Pride and Prejudice?"

"Like in what?"

John opened an eye. "Pride and Prejudice?"

"What's that?"

"It's a book, widely regarded as the greatest love story in English literature. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet? They hate each other but then it turns out they can't live without one another?"

"Never heard of it."

"What about Colin Firth? Have you got him?"

Donna shook her head. "No. What do you think of the name?"

John smiled. "Georgiana Smith-Noble, it has a ring to it."

"Call her Georgie for short sometimes," mused Donna.

"Not me. I'll call her Georgiana every time."

"Given up on Pocahontas then?"

"Suppose so, unless you're still looking for a middle name. Georgiana Pocahontas Smith-Noble?"

"I was thinking of something more traditional."

"Fun killer," said John.

John watched Donna and the baby for a while longer, until they all went blissfully to sleep.

* * *

><p>Amy and Rory had been living together since the previous September when he had been accepted at a medical school in London. They were both busy, she at Torchwood at all hours, he studying and working as a nurse.<p>

Rory looked over at Amy. "You should probably sleep."

"I'm just doing this file," she said. "It's got to be perfect. I had too many mistakes in my last one."

"You're fine. John likes you."

Amy snorted. "It's not if he likes me, it's if he thinks I'm worth keeping around. Everyone in that office has more experience than me."

"You travelled with a Time Lord. How many people can say that?"

Amy snorted. "Rose Tyler can say that."

"Is she the wedding crasher?" Adeola and Gwen had given him an earful on his first visit to Torchwood.

"That's her."

Rory glanced at the screen. "Is that an MRI?"

"Yeah, part of the standard health package."

"You guys didn't do the brain damage, did you?"

"No." She paused. "What brain damage?"

Rory pointed. "See that dark spot? That's on the frontal lobe."

"Right. The frontal lobe."

Rory smiled. "That's on the prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision making."

"Decision making?," asked Amy. "So, somebody with this MRI might make bad decisions?"

"Possibly."

Amy went back in the computer. "But it's been like this for years," she said searching through other scans.

Rory peered over again. "No, it's actually gotten bigger. See? There?"

Amy looked at the dates. "That's the Dimension Cannon incident."

"What's a Dimension Cannon?"

"But it's always had a spot since her first employee physical. How did it get there? There's nothing in her file." Amy got up.

"What are you doing?," asked Rory.

"Sorry, I've got to go in. This could be something, something really big."

* * *

><p>John woke up startled. He stood and walked over to Georgiana as she lay in the cot. Her eyes were wide open and she seemed to have just discovered that she had hands as she waved her little fists.<p>

She was moving her head. Were they meant to do that? He had perused one of the baby books Donna had bought and found everything to be woefully slow compared to Time Lord children. She was moving her head, though, side to side.

"The hat," he said.

"What?," Donna murmured, still asleep.

"Nothing," said John. He looked back at Georgiana. She was still waving her fist. He took the pink knit cap off her head and she stopped.

"John?," asked Donna, eyes now open. "Does she need a feeding?"

"No, she just didn't like the hat."

She gathered enough energy to raise an eyebrow. "She didn't like the hat?"

"She..." John paused and looked back at the baby. She was still watching him. They weren't meant to do that, were they?

He looked at her and stuck out his tongue.

"John, what are you doing?"

Georgiana stuck her tongue out.

"Uh, Donna, stay right here," he said, lifting her up out of the cot.

"John, what are you doing?"

"Please, just trust me. Stay right here."

John took the baby out as Donna glared at him. He went out into the corridor and walked down the hall, smiling at the nurses who had come to expect him to be unusual after a day of knowing him.

Soon enough, Donna came out of the room and down the corridor, finding John in the now empty visitors' lounge.

"Okay, John," she said coming down the hall, "I don't know what your problem is or why you want to make your baby scream so, but enough is enough!"

Donna arrived finding Georgiana looking completely placid.

"I don't understand," she said.

"Yeah," said John.

"She's not doing anything, but I can hear her crying."

"Yeah."

"Give her to me."

John handed the baby over to Donna. She looked up in surprise.

"I don't hear it anymore."

"Yeah."

"Are you just going to keep saying that?"

"It's a Time Baby trick," he said. "Human babies test their limits by crying out loud. Time Babies cry in your head."

Donna paused. "You didn't mention that."

"I never thought it was possible," he said, staring ahead. "I should have known it..."

Donna sat down across from him. "You should have known what?"

He looked at her squarely. "When I first came here, I was cut off from the Time Vortex, see, that's where a Time Lord gets what makes him a Time Lord. It was like walking around without equilibrium, I thought I was just adjusting, but now I don't think so..."

"Why do you look so worried?," asked Donna. "If she's part Time Baby, so what?"

"Because the Silence want Time Babies."

The full weight of that dawned on Donna's face. "Oh, my God." She cuddled the baby closer. "But you're not going to let that happen, we are not going to let that happen."

"Donna, I-"

"Don't just sit there and feel sorry. Tell me that you are going to do something."

"Yes," said John. "I am going to do something."

* * *

><p>Amy Pond had been at the office all night after Rory told her about Rose's scans. She had ordered more scans and a full medical workup to be completed as soon as possible. She was going through the Torchwood archives looking for anything similar. She was startled as she saw John walk in.<p>

"John?," she said.

He didn't answer her. He just kept marching towards the prisoner cells. Amy had seen that look before and knew it wasn't good because she had seen it on the Doctor's face. It was the Oncoming Storm. She got out of her desk and followed.

"John, what's happened? Are Donna and the baby alright?," she asked with trepidation. That was the only time she had seen the Doctor looking this rattled, when he told her that his daughter had been taken.

"Jack's with them," he said tersely as he swiped his key card and went into the cell, Amy followed in quickly before the door shut.

"Wake up!," he shouted.

Rose Tyler stirred on the thin mattress.

"What do you want?," she said.

"What have you done, Rose Tyler?," John asked angrily.

Rose looked to Amy then back at John. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've done something. What is it?"

"I haven't done anything."

"We've established you're lying, Rose! Now let's just establish what it is you're lying about! Why were you really in my house, Rose?"

"Don't know."

He leaned in to her. "You don't care about me, remember? I'm just some carbon copy! You don't care if I live or die, all you care about is the Doctor, so what were you doing in my house?"

Rose shrugged. "Don't know."

"You did something because something has happened to my baby. One quarter Time Lord, the DNA should be lying dormant, but something's awakened it. What have you done?"

Now Rose looked truly confused. "What?"

Amy stepped forward. "What did you do?"

"I don't know anything."

"No! You know what you did! You're in on it! Tell me what it is!"

Rose didn't answer, just stared at John. She actually looked scared.

"Do you remember what your mother said?"

"What?" Rose was struck by the oddness of the question.

"All those years ago, in the TARDIS, when the ghosts came. What did she say to you?"

Rose tried to push back the memory.

"She was worried about you travelling with the Doctor. She was worried about you changing, imagining this strange woman a billion miles from Earth, you wouldn't be human, you wouldn't even be Rose Tyler. She was wrong, though, because you changed right here. What are you, Rose?"

She looked at him, fighting back tears.

Then it went black.

"John? John!"

John woke up to find Adeola over him. He looked next to him to see Gwen helping Amy off the floor.

"What happened?," asked John.

"Cameras cut out in this cell," she said helping him sit up.

"Where's Rose?," he asked, looking around.

"Gone," said Adeola. "Be careful. You've got a cut on your forehead."

John reached up to touch it. His head was sticky with blood and it hurt like hell.

"John," said Amy.

He looked over. She had two hashmarks on her hand.

"What does that mean?," asked Gwen.

"The Silence," said Amy. "They were here."

"I've got to get back to the hospital," said John.

"We just talked to them, Jack says Donna and the baby are fine," Adeola reassured him.

"John, I need to show you something."

Amy took John back to her desk and showed him the scans of Rose Tyler and what her conclusions were.

"You're wrong, though," said John.

"I am?," Amy asked hopefully.

"No, because it's worse." He sighed. "I should have seen it, the Doctor should have seen it, but there was just too much going on!"

"What do you mean?"

John sighed and collapsed in Amy's chair. "That's not brain damage, well, it is, but it's not just that. See, Rose Tyler absorbed the Time Vortex."

Amy's eyes widened. "The Doctor told me that was dangerous and then the Oracle added it was decidedly stupid."

"That would be accurate. See, she did it and absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex and took on the power of a god, killed the Daleks, made Jack immortal..."

"What?," asked Amy.

"Oh, yeah, there's another Jack and he's immortal."

"So, shouldn't it have killed her? How did she live?"

"The Doctor's ninth self gave up his life to save her, absorbed all the energy of the Time Virtex."

"But it's still there," said Amy, "and it's gotten worse."

"You were right," said John. "This got worse around the time of the Dimension Cannon Project, all that jumping across the Void, absorbing new energy-" He took a breath. "Oh, no. Shan Shen."

"Shan Shen?"

"When the Doctor and Donna came out of the fortune teller's room at Shan Shen, Bad Wolf was written everywhere, just like when Rose was the Bad Wolf. Don't you see? She became the Bad Wolf again! That's the only way that makes sense! The Doctor was just too distracted and probably thought it was another ontological paradox!"

"Distracted by what?"

"The end of all reality and his wife's brain was about to blow up."

Amy nodded. "Fair enough." She knelt to face John. "But, John, this Bad Wolf thing, it turned her into a god, I'm not an expert, but I know my mythology and I know a little bit about neurology, thanks to Rory. You know what else he noticed?"

John looked back at the scan. "What?"

"Her brain never finished developing, it's supposed to stop in your twenties, but hers stopped when she was nineteen."

"When she became the Bad Wolf..." John realized.

"So, somewhere out there is a god with the mind of a nineteen year old girl obsessed with a married man in another universe and working with the Silence." She took a breath. "What part of that sounds good?"

* * *

><p>John sped home and ran upstairs. He searched in the night table, relieved to find the psychic paper Mayantha had given him still in the drawer and sat on the bed to write a message.<p> 


	30. The Girl Who Couldn't Go

Author's Notes: I do not own the Duplicate Doctor, the Alternate Donna, Alternate Eleven, the Silence, Alternate Amy, anybody. Thanks for the reads and the reviews, I so love it when you all are really into this. So, this chapter is a little different with some timey wimey-ness, so bear with me. You'll see why when you get there. Anyway, please enjoy and let me know what you think. If there are questions, just let me know.

* * *

><p>Donna awoke again with no idea why. That was one thing for Time Babies, no noise. She found Georgiana lying happily in her bassinet just a foot away from her side of the bed.<p>

"What is it this time, you?," Donna asked with a smile, lifting her up. "What do you want now? A feeding? A changing?"

Georgiana just smiled. Donna supposed she got it from John.

"Were you bored again?," Donna asked. John had explained it was some sort of sport for Time Babies to awaken their parents just to see that they would come. Georgiana seemed to have taken to it extremely well. Josh had screamed for similar reasons thus waking up Ella and never giving Donna more than an hour's rest. She gave her a kiss on top of the head. "Are we hungry, miss?"

Donna sat in chair in the corner and pulled her top down for Georgiana to latch on. In the four months since they had brought her home from hospital, she had been afraid to leave the house, she was running the company from her sitting room mostly, unwilling to take any chance that Georgiana would be taken while she was at work. Still, that part wasn't all that bad. No one cared if she wore yoga pants and a nursing cami most of the day, she put on makeup and dressed her top half for video conferences. She spent all that time with Georgiana, she was there when Josh and Ella got home from school.

She loved watching them with their new sister. Ella treated Georgiana like the ultimate baby doll. If Donna left the two, she would come back to find Georgiana dressed in her frilliest outfit or taken to a tea party with Ella's dolls. Josh had resisted her at first, after all, she was a baby and a girl, she didn't seem to be much fun but John pointed out to him that Georgiana was fascinated by him. She sat in a playpen in the back garden and watched as John helped him practice cricket or football. She had surprised them all by clapping to share in the excitement. She had since found them together in front of the telly as Josh explained the finer points of a football match. She had drawn the line on buying the baby a Manchester United sleepsuit, she wasn't about to lose another child to that club.

Then there was John. He was an amazing dad. He hadn't been able to stay at home as he wanted but Donna understood, he had to keep hunting for the Silence and Rose Tyler for Georgiana's sake. He came home early every day that he could and took over for Donna so she could get some work or actually leave the house for a meeting or even to just meet Nerys for supper. He talked to her constantly, telling her stories of what she assumed were the Doctor's adventures. He didn't mind getting up with her, just to walk around the house or play with her while Donna slept. He even gave her to Donna so she could nurse and stayed awake to put her back in her cot.

"Come on, let's see what Daddy's gotten into."

Donna came downstairs to find John on a ladder with a drill. Amy stood at the bottom, holding it.

"Oh, you're awake!," he said happily.

"Hello, Donna," said Amy.

"What are you doing?," asked Donna.

"Teleportation dampening field, installing it throughout the grounds. Don't know why I didn't think of this before!"

"Are you putting holes in the ceiling?," she asked.

"Yes," Amy answered for him.

"For a good cause," said John.

Amy groaned. "Would you hurry up and finish so I can look at the baby?"

"What's keeping you from looking at the baby?"

"I'm holding the ladder for you, idiot!"

Donna smiled. John came down and Amy walked over.

"Oh, she is gorgeous," said Amy. "Ginger as promised. John was certain to mention that to everyone in the office."

"Yeah, he was certain to mention it to me as well," Donna said with a smile. She looked over at him. He was staring at that blank bit of paper again.

"No answer from them?," asked Donna. John had promised that the Doctor could certainly help them.

"No," said John.

Amy caught the look on Donna's face. "The Doctor and the Oracle will come, I'd bet anything on it."

Donna took the baby back from Amy. "It's just it's been months."

"They always come," said Amy. "Sometimes it takes a while, but he has this way of showing up in the right place."

"What about his daughter?," asked Donna. "She was taken."

"But he came for her," said Amy.

"Poor girl," said Donna, pulling Georgiana back against her. "Six years with those monsters."

* * *

><p>Lydia, short for Lydianasathvanara, her father always had problems with long names, lack of attention span, her mother said, knew she was different. It was so obvious. She was the only fifteen year old around. When she was six, she had come home to Gallifrey, not knowing the man who took her there, not knowing the blonde lady who cried as she greeted her, holding her for hours. The man said he was her father, but the other man had said he was her father before he vanished into that gold light, replaced by the other man. It had been terrifying. She had hidden deep in the blue box, hours before he found her.<p>

From her arrival, there was so much catching up to do, her parents said. Her father tutored her, teaching her maths and sciences and reading and writing in the strange new language. She thought she would never understand at first, but it began to click by the end of the first day.

The reason for the acceleration, her mother said, was that she was six, only two years away from seeing the Untempered Schism and going to the Academy. Other children her age had been taught these things since birth and she could catch up. Her mother said she had every confidence in her, she knew she was clever.

So, Lydia studied with her father. He taught her all the maths and science stuff, then he would teach her about far away planets and gave her books to read in English, which she already knew. She had fun, though, certainly more than she ever had. Her grandfather took her for hikes into the mountains. For the first time, she played with other children, usually introduced to her as her nieces and nephews. And she drew. She had a gift for drawing, so her father claimed.

Then one day something changed.

It was two days before she was set to go to the Academy. Her parents had explained it all and assured her that everyone was scared of leaving home at first, but they had all done it, and promised they would see each other on holidays. Her family, older brothers and their spouses, nieces and nephews, grandparents were all gathered at the house for a sort of going away party.

Then an old friend of Dad's had arrived. Her nephew identified her as Lady President Romana. She disappeared with her parents for what seemed like an eternity until they returned, looking defeated. The party broke up soon after and her parents explained to her she wouldn't be going to the Academy, not then anyway.

Not ever as it turned out. Eventually all her playmates went off to school and she was alone mostly, except for her family.

So, here she was. Stuck in this pointless life. She didn't even go for walks around the Citadel anymore. Everyone knew her, she was the girl who couldn't go to the Academy. The last time she had tried, people had just stared and whispered, even the regular Gallifreyans.

That was two years ago. Without goals or plans or anything really, her mind just drifted back to her early years, the time spent with the Silence and River Song. The episodes were like nightmares in the form of daydreams.

She was small and she was led into a room. In front of her was River Song, with an eye patch and a black suit. She knew her well, but she knew she couldn't trust her. There was no sort of warmth between them. She walked in the company of monsters and when she arrived, pain always followed. The woman said it was because she was hanging on, Lydia never quite understood what that meant, but she knew there was something, like a song from far away, playing in her mind.

"Lydia, sweetie," she said. "Your daddy has come to visit."

She always looked over at the man. He was tied up, wore pinstripe suit and trainers, was almost as tall as the monsters, had crazy sort of stand up hair. When he looked at her, the song seemed louder and clearer.

"Don't make her watch this," he pleaded.

He was tied next to a young woman with ginger hair. She found out later this was Amy Pond. "Melody, please."

"Oh, but Mummy, he came all the way to the Gamme Forest to see her, how could I deny him now?" She turned to Lydia. "Go ahead. Walk over there."

Lydia walked over, unaware of her legs as she propelled herself. She looked up at the man.

"You have my eyes," she said.

"Yes," he said softly. "Yes, I do."

"Who are you?"

"I'm your dad," he said, voice breaking.

"I don't have a dad," she said.

"Oh, but you do," he said. "You have a dad and a mum and a big sister and eight older brothers and grandparents and uncles and cousins."

"Where are they?"

"Far away on Gallifrey. You were born there. Do you remember that? You had a room with a cot and a big window, there were two suns and purple flowers on red grass. In the mornings, I took you to see the Flutterwings in the garden."

Lydia suddenly got a flash of being held in the man's arms, her tiny arm being moved to point at something like large flying insects in beautiful colors. They were like no kind of creature she had seen in the Gamma Forest. The song played loudly in her mind.

"There was a lady with dark hair and blue eyes." That meant something to Lydia, she got another flash of the woman, being there as she opened her eyes, hovering above her with a smile. Then another flash of the monsters that walked with River, striking her down. "She was your mum and you have to believe if I don't get you out of here she will because she's a Time Lady and that's what you are."

"She died," said Lydia, her mind filled with an image of the woman lying on the floor, then a golden light starting as the monsters carried her away.

"No, she didn't. She is so alive and she'll come for you."

"Very touching," said the lady. "She has owners now and she is what they say."

"Bloody hell, Melody, stop it!," screamed the red haired woman. "I couldn't stop them from taking you and I am sorry, I think about it every day but you can still save her. You can end this."

"I intend to end this."

"Don't make her watch," begged the Doctor. "Please."

"Oh, but I thought you wanted to spend time together?"

"If you kill me, you'll have ended this, stopped the prophecy," said the Doctor. "There won't be a need for this."

"Your point?"

"You could send for the Oracle. She could come collect her."

"Why would we give her up when she can be so useful?"

The woman got behind a console. Amy turned to the Doctor.

"I'm sorry I got you into this, Amy."

"It's not your fault. I know you didn't want any of this." She smiled. "It was fun, yeah?"

"Yeah, lots of fun."

"An awful lot of running, though."

"An awful lot of running."

River flipped a switch and the lights went out. She turned to the henchmen.

"Doctor?," whispered Amy.

"Yeah?"

"We're not dying, are we?"

"Not today."

"Do you mind telling me that next time?"

The Doctor used the sonic screwdriver and they were freed from the pole. He pointed the sonic at the console and it blew up, then he grabbed Lydia.

"Lydia."

Lydia looked up. She had been drawing again on the veranda, she hadn't even realized it. This happened often, she would fall into daydreams of the monsters and the woman called Melody or River and hours would pass. The suns were setting, she had passed the whole day like this again.

And she always would. Time Lords lived for thousands of years. She couldn't stand that thought, thousands of years with days like this.

Her father stood in the doorway, grimacing.

"The Gardener is coming for dinner," he said. "Still, along with his idiot parents."

"Right," said Lydia. "I'll just take dinner in my room."

"You don't have to take dinner in your room. Please don't. They're all grown up and boring."

She shook her head. "I don't mind." In fact, she preferred it. Lydia couldn't bear being around people, sometimes not even her own family. She would hide in her room or the old TARDIS that sat in the library when her room wasn't hiding enough. It was easier that way.

She couldn't bear the disappointment, so she left before her father had the chance to give his usual counter argument.

* * *

><p>When the Doctor was a young boy, he had dreamt of running away. As a young man, he had done just that and had seen everything, nothing could shock him anymore. He had grown too old for that, too cynical.<p>

That was until the day Mayantha had a guest over for dinner. A young man of three hundred and ninety, a little young for her, but he supposed that was a trifle. There were other things he found much more worrying such as his name.

The Gardener.

What sort of name was that for a Time Lord? How did that intimidate one's enemies? Ooh, let's be scared, the Gardener is here. What names would his enemies call him? The Oncoming Watering Can?

As usual, his wife had told him to not blow it out of proportion. If only he could have taken her travelling more, gotten her mind off useless boys, but as it was he was stuck on Gallifrey with the rest of the Time Lords, a terrifying civilization where people called the Gardener were somehow seen as suitable to enter the gene pool! Maybe he would regenerate into something tolerable. He had half a mind to test the theory. The other half of his mind didn't care whether he regenerated.

Mayantha's mission to Earth had been like manna from Heaven and he would know because he had seen the manna fall that day. Get her off the planet and away from the Gardener. He would have kissed Lady President Romana's feet for it if the Oracle hadn't given him the look she usually gave when she was about to make his life miserable. Then the surprising news about a Metacrisis Doctor!

The Time Lords of his universe had known about the Doctor's alternate in what was called the Forbidden Universe. They had sealed off the walls from that universe's reality in order to prevent any crossover whether it be from Daleks or the alternate Doctor. They feared them both, though the Doctor himself had always thought it was somewhat cruel. He had lost his civilization, he didn't see what would be so bad about letting him take up here. If anyone was going to complain, it should have been him, he was the one who would have a double running around.

Mayantha had told them in detail what the Time Lords had only gotten in broad strokes about the Reality Bomb incident. The alternate Doctor had a wife, a human wife! The thought was almost bizarre to the Doctor, he had never thought about a human like... that. He supposed his alternate didn't have a lot of options, though, when she had mentioned she was ginger, that explained everything. Donna had been part of a Human Time Lord metacrisis that also formed the Duplicate now living on Earth with yet another Donna who was ginger. And the first Donna had saved all reality! If such a human wasn't worthy to be the wife of the last of the Time Lords, he didn't know who was. And the Time Baby! The fact she could even conceive a Time Baby was remarkable enough to make the Doctor think it was destiny and besides, it seemed like his alternate deserved someone. He couldn't imagine life on his own, completely isolated. He had always liked having human companions himself and though he wouldn't admit it, he needed to know that home was just a trip away in the TARDIS.

He and the Oracle had told Mayantha not to breathe a word of this to the High Council. There were a lot of things in that story they wouldn't have cared for. Alternate Doctor, Metacrisis Doctor, Time Human little people.

Not as worried as he was about the dinner guests this evening. The Gardener and his parents. If the Gardener was uninspiring, it was easy to see why. His father was called Eldard, a plump man on his third regeneration, though he was older than the Doctor who was on his eleventh. The Gardener's mother, Lufufi, was on her second and again, was older. He didn't see why either of them was so determined to hang on to the regenerations, they were uninspiring. So was their offspring. A whole loom of uninspiring children. What if Mayantha and the Gardener loomed their children? What if he had grandchildren that were this awful? Just this... ordinary.

The Oracle kicked his shin in the chair next to him. He had forgotten that she had placed his hand on hers and thus had been listening to every thought since the Oncoming Watering Can.

"Are you alright, sir?," asked the Gardener.

"Just swell," said the Doctor.

"Will your other daughter be joining us?," asked the mother of the blessed specimen. It didn't sound as if she was looking forward to the young lady's company.

"No," said the Oracle. "She's feeling unwell."

"Oh, too bad."

"What will you do with her?," asked Eldard.

"Sorry?," asked the Doctor.

"Well, you can't send her to the Academy. That's forbidden. She's not suitable for any position in the Citadel," he said exchanging nods with Lufufi. "There's the Wastelands, I suppose."

The Doctor rose. "Who do you think you are?"

The couple looked at each other.

"We only meant-"

"Surely, Doctor, you understand that she can't be admitted into society."

"Mum," Mayantha pleaded with the Oracle.

The Oracle turned. "No, sweethearts, I think I'll let this one just happen."

"Sir, my parents only mean that since the fortunes of our two houses are now joined, that your other daughter is now our concern as well."

"And I only meant that you three are all ignorant, narrow-minded prats who have never stepped outside the Citadel, let alone off Gallifrey, so how could you possibly presume to walk into my house and tell me to send my daughter, whose lineage stretches back to the era of Rassilon, to the Wastelands to be treated as some sort of savage!"

"Don't forget our inbreeding theory," added the Oracle.

"Right!," added the Doctor. "When they loomed you all, did they remember to recombine the DNA or did they just keep making copies until the whole thing was watered down?"

They puffed and their faces got red. The Doctor looked at the Gardener. "And the Gardener! What sort of stupid name is that for a Time Lord?"

"I think we should postpone the wedding, Mayantha," said the Gardener. "Until your father becomes more reasonable."

"Ha!," said the Doctor. "Shows what you know! I never get reasonable!"

"Dad..." said Mayantha.

"Father of the bride, remember? I do not consent, I do not gladly give! I deny permission and hold on bitterly!" He looked at the Oracle. "Anything else?"

The Oracle considered. "I think we've covered everything." She looked at the Gardener and his parents. "Now, if you would be so kind as to get the hell out of my house and never return."

The Gardener and his parents were on the front step when the Doctor felt something. He reached into the breast pocket of his tweed jacket and pulled out the psychic paper.

"What's that?," asked the Oracle.

"I don't know," said the Doctor. "I haven't gotten a message in ages!"

Mayantha re-entered. "Did you have to do that?"

"Of course I did," said the Doctor. He opened the psychic paper. "It's from the Metacrisis Doctor!"

"John?," asked Mayantha. "Is he alright?"

"He's had a baby girl!," the Doctor said with glee. He looked at the Oracle. "Do you think she's ginger?"

"Is that why he's writing?," asked the Oracle.

The Doctor continued, his voice lowering. "He says the Silence have returned to Earth and they want the child. And something called Bad Wolf. What's Bad Wolf?" He shook the paper. "This thing's all muddled from coming through the barrier! I can hardly read it!"

"Bad Wolf? I've never heard of it," said the Oracle.

"What are we going to do?," asked Mayantha. "We can't tell the High Council."

"No, of course not. We'll have to lie."

The Oracle scoffed. "Because that always goes really well."

"Okay, you have to lie then."

"What do we say? We got a message and need to go to Earth for no particular reason?"

"Well, don't say we got a message. We need to make something up obviously!," exclaimed the Doctor. "Come on, a ginger Time Baby is at stake here!"

"Ginger Time Baby?," asked the Oracle, casting a glance at Mayantha. "Do you know you sound ridiculous?"


	31. Barrier

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or anyone. Thanks for the reads and reviews. I appreciate it. Also, hello, lurkers. What have you been up to? So, let me know what you think and happy reading.

* * *

><p>There were many duties that the High President of the Council of the Time Lords might find taxing.<p>

The one Lady President Romana found most taxing was being there when the Doctor came in with some ludicrous plan or other. This was one such day. He barged in, the Oracle with him and said:

"The Oracle has something to ask."

The Oracle cast a glare at him. She turned back to Romana and smiled.

"I need a break in the barrier," she said.

"Two actually," interrupted the Doctor, "one there and one back. Well, what if we forget something? Then we'll need three, no four."

"And what do you need a break in the barrier for?," asked Romana.

"I have a pass to Disneyland Clom," said the Doctor, "it's going to expire if I don't use it in the next three days."

The Oracle turned. "That's the story you came up with?"

"It's a park hopper," he said, sounding offended.

"What do you really need, Doctor?," asked Romana, tiring quickly. There may have been a time when she found the Doctor charming, but his latest regeneration didn't impress her.

"I need to go to Earth, the Silence have returned to there. One of my former companions needs my help."

"The one who led the Silence to Gallifrey?"

"No. One of the good ones."

"Which one?"

"Sorry?," he asked.

"Which one?," Romana repeated tersely.

"One of the really good ones," said the Doctor. He looked at the Oracle. "Right?"

"Yes, the good ones," she confirmed

"We can't risk a break in the barrier because a companion needs a favor. I'm sorry."

"The only breaks have been since Mayantha went to get the Master as you asked. She told you the Silence had arrived there. The humans are being forced to wage our war and they're nowhere near as good at it. Well, as good at it as we would be if we had actually bothered to fight them!" He looked at the Oracle, seeing another glare. "What?"

"What part of this was in the plan?," she asked.

"Well, I've made some alterations since the planning phase."

"Doctor, the answer is no," said Romana.

"Oh, come on! This planet has been on a fifteen year tea break! It's about time we got back to the match, don't you think?"

"This is exactly why you're not the one making these decisions."

"No. Perish the thought that we should actually do something."

Romana steamed. "If you're going to continue to comport yourself in this manner, I will have to ask you to leave."

"I came to you, on hands and knees and begged for help to find my child and you gave me nothing. I thought you were a lot of things, Romana, but I never thought you were a coward."

Romana stood. "Leave now!"

"Always lovely to see you, Romana," said the Doctor.

* * *

><p>The Oracle and the Doctor left, beginning the walk back to the house.<p>

"Well," said the Oracle, "the Castellans didn't toss us out. I suppose that is something. It's a first at least."

The Doctor took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket.

"What? Did you think I was actually trying to make her mad? Well, I was, but only because I knew she would never say yes. I'll leave the actual fighting to you two."

The Oracle rolled her eyes. "That was a very volatile regeneration. I haven't fought over you in a good four hundred years. Now, care to share anything else from the planning phase?"

"I accessed the High Council's databanks with the access codes for the barrier. We can come and go as we please. At least until someone figures it out."

"This couldn't possibly backfire."

"Well, what choice do we have, really? The Silence are out there, they're going to take another child and do who knows what. Then there's the matter of this Bad Wolf thing. What did you find in the Matrix?"

"Nothing, really. Just some legends about some sort of creature that lives in the Time Vortex."

The Doctor scoffed. "A creature that lives in the Time Vortex? Nonsense."

"I didn't make it up, I just researched it and that's all I could find.

* * *

><p>Mayantha was waiting when they arrived home.<p>

"What did she say?," she asked anxiously.

"She rejected us. Obviously," said the Doctor. "Lydia!"

"What?," asked Mayantha.

"Obviously we're going anyway," said the Doctor. "Lydia!"

Mayantha looked at the Oracle. "Should we do that?"

"Is she really my daughter?," asked the Doctor. "Rule number one, when the High Council says not to do something, do it anyway."

"I thought rule one was the Doctor lies," said the Oracle. "Or was it, don't wander off?"

Lydia entered. "Yes, Dad?"

"Pack a bag. We're going on a trip."

"A trip?," asked Lydia.

The Oracle walked up to the Doctor, closing the distance. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"No, I think it's a fantastic idea."

"She's too young to be off planet."

"Yes, that would be true if she were at the Academy, but she's not at the Academy, so she's not too young."

"That's your argument?"

"I took Susan when she wasn't so much older."

"Yes, let's follow that shining example!"

They both turned to find Lydia and Mayantha staring at them.

"If she doesn't go now, then when?," asked the Doctor.

The Oracle sighed. "Lydia, pack a bag."

"Vamonos!," said the Doctor.

All three women looked at him.

"It's Spanish for let's go," he said.

"Please stop trying to invent catchphrases," said the Oracle.

* * *

><p>Georgiana awoke from her nap and looked over at Donna.<p>

"Mummy!"

Donna smiled. She walked over to the playpen and picked her up. "How did you know Mummy was almost done with reading the contracts for the Mexican deal? You stop her just short every time!"

Georgiana looked as if that meant nothing to her because it didn't. "Daddy?"

"No, sweetheart, still at work."

"Josh?"

"He has astronomy club today, they've gone to the planetarium."

"Ella?"

"Ballet class."

Georgiana pouted. Donna smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I know it must seem like everyone is busy, but Mummy will play with you, I just have to make a call. Okay?"

Donna put Georgiana in her baby walker. The tray had all sorts of toys and baubles on it, but Donna knew it would buy her ten minutes at best.

Georgiana was sitting in her walker when she heard a noise. She struggled to turn it around and saw a blue box. A tall man in a bowtie stepped out of it.

"Earth! Smell that twenty-first century air!" He spun around to look at Georgiana. "Ooh! Look! Tiny human! No, wait." He walked over and sniffed her. "Ginger Time Baby!"

Two women stepped out.

"Look!," said the Doctor. "I told you! Ginger Time Baby! And they've put it in a little chair with wheels!"

"Yes, you win," said the Oracle.

The Doctor lifted Georgiana out of the walker. "Look at you! All ginger! I always wanted to be ginger!" He looked at the family portrait over the mantle. "Oh, that must be the family! Mummy and Daddy, brother, sister and you in there!"

"Doctor, perhaps you should put her down," said the Oracle.

"Put her down? She's a Ginger Time Baby! Lydia, come out and see the Ginger Time Baby!"

"I'm fine," Lydia called from inside the TARDIS.

"It's a Ginger Time Baby! That's like finding a unicorn!" He paused. "On this planet...in this century!"

"Who the hell are you?"

They turned to see Donna shouting at the Doctor.

"How did you get in here? Where did that giant blue box come from?" She stopped and saw Mayantha. "Mayantha!"

"Hi," she said.

She looked back at the Doctor. "What's going on?"

"That's my dad, the Doctor, and this is my mother, the Oracle."

"We're the Doctoracle," said the Doctor.

"No, we aren't," said the Oracle quickly.

"I thought you looked just like John," said Donna.

"I did, then I regenerated. Long story, not pleasant, I was just admiring your Ginger Time Baby. She is fantastic! What is she? Six? Seven?"

Donna narrowed her eyes at him. "She's a year on Saturday."

"Really? That's all?" He paused. "She says I should give her back to you before you get mad." He delicately placed the baby back in Donna's arms.

"She says?," asked Donna.

"I speak baby."

"You speak baby?"

"Yes. She also wants to know why she has to be in the chair when you leave the room, it's very hard to turn around quickly. Also, she thinks she's ready to drive the car."

Donna stared at him.

"Yes," said the Oracle, "my husband often has that effect on people." She approached and shook Donna's still shocked hand. "It's lovely to be here. Mayantha has told us all about you."

"I should phone John," said Donna.

"Right! Of course! Don't mind us." He leaned in to Donna. "You wouldn't happen to have any little cakes with edible ball bearings, would you? Maybe a Jammie Dodger?"


	32. The Meeting

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the many, many characters I've taken by now. There must be a lot. Thanks for the reads and reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter and happy reading!

Author's Notes Again: When I first published this, I screwed up my Second Doctor companions. It was Zoe, not Victoria, who got her memory wiped. So, sorry and I changed it.

* * *

><p>John and Amy entered to see the Doctor sitting on the sofa next to Georgiana.<p>

"Yes, I know, Georgiana, I'm sure you could do a better job than Mummy, but she doesn't think you're tall enough to reach the pedals. Or the hand brake, really. Not to even consider looking out the windscreen." He looked up. "Amelia Pond!"

"Doctor?," asked Amy with a quizzical look.

"Well, come here, give us a hug!"

"You changed," said Amy.

"I do that from time to time," he said. He held his arms out. Amy ran and gave the Doctor a hug.

The Doctor stood back and took a look at John. "Human Time Lord metacrisis. How did that happen?"

"Hand in a jar." John looked at the Doctor. Is this what he would have turned into? Had the Doctor already turned into this? Bow tie? Braces?

"Right, well, lots of work to do, very little time and seeing as how I broke out of Gallifrey for this, we had better make it good, hadn't we?"

"You broke out of Gallifrey?," asked John.

The Doctor ignored him. "Go pick up Georgiana, she's been waiting for hours," said the Doctor. "And where have you been? She says you disappear for five days a week, for roughly the same amount of time at the same time. What are you up to?"

John went to pluck Georgiana from her walker. "Work. It's called work."

"Work?," asked the Doctor with disdain. "With a boss? And a clock you punch in and out of?"

"We had to go to sensitivity training," said Amy. "It was Jack's fault really."

"Jack? Is Jack here?," asked the Doctor.

"No," said Amy. "He went to dinner with the lady running the seminar. He says he'll catch up later."

John looked up. The Oracle had entered with Mayantha and Donna. It was a new regeneration, one he had never seen, one who had never existed. Mayantha gave him a hug and John turned his attention to the Oracle.

"Hello," said John.

"So, the famous John Smith," she said with a smile. "Mayantha couldn't stop speaking of you."

"Oracle!," said Amy. She squaled with delight and ran to give the Oracle a well-received hug. "You look so different, but you sound the same."

"She always does," said John absentmindedly.

"Not quite. I think my second was a bit more sarcastic," said the Oracle.

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Okay then. Better get cracking. Now, what is Bad Wolf?"

John sat. "One of the Doctor's former companions was called Rose Tyler."

"Oh," said the Doctor, "universe hole puncher girl."

"Oh, my God, they've heard of her," said Donna.

"Yes," said John. "She looked into the Time Vortex and became the Bad Wolf-"

"Why would she look into the Time Vortex?," asked the Oracle. "Was she an idiot?"

"Well... See she was trying to save the Doctor's life and she opened up the heart of the TARDIS-"

"She did what?," asked the Doctor.

"What?," echoed the Oracle and Mayantha.

Donna looked at them. "Sorry, am I missing something?"

"The TARDIS is a living thing," explained the Oracle. "You don't just open it up and have a look. How is she alive?"

"The Doctor's ninth self gave his life for her," said John, starting to feel embarassed at this whole story. It had been a long time since he had to explain himself to other Time Lords, not that he had ever cared for it anyway, but he knew if Rose had done what she did in this universe, they probably would have wiped her memory and sent her back to her time like Jamie and Zoe. At the very least.

"The ninth," said the Oracle. She looked at Donna. "Wouldn't have pegged him for a sacrifice his life for a companion type."

"It was difiificult for him," John managed to stammer out. "She was his first companion after the Time War. He was very attached to her."

"Alright, girl absorbs the Time Vortex, girl becomes Bad Wolf, presumably Doctor absorbs Time Vortex from girl and girl goes back to being a regular human, but she didn't. Not for long anyway. What happened next?," asked the Doctor.

"She got trapped in this dimension. She started trying to find a way back to the Doctor."

"So," said the Doctor, "the energy was just taken away, leaving a hole, that got filled with more dimensional crossing stuff, until she finally becomes the Bad Wolf again."

"And she has the power of a god," said the Oracle. "Presumably, you don't know where to find her?"

"No, she's been working with the Silence," said John.

"Yes, but what has she been doing?" He paused. "Mayantha said she crashed your wedding."

"Yes," said John.

"Where did you find her?," asked the Doctor.

"The linen cupboard in the en suite in the Master Bedroom," said Donna.

"Right!," said the Doctor hopping over the back of the sofa. "Where's your bedroom?"

"What do you need in our bedroom for?," asked Donna.

The chase began up the stairs as the Doctor started flinging open doors, with everyone following him.

"Oh, football fan!," said the Doctor, shutting Josh's door.

"What do you think is in our bedroom?," John asked, balancing Georgiana.

"I think Rose Tyler was in your bedroom for a reason, that whatever she was doing there wasn't an accident." He finally opened the door to the Master Bedroom. "Ah! Here we are! Grown up room!"

He entered and looked at the Oracle. "Can you hear that?"

"Yes, I can definitely hear that," she said, looking around the room.

"Sorry, what are you looking for?," asked Donna.

"Yeah, I was sort of wondering that, too," said Amy.

"Something that shouldn't be there," the Doctor said, making Donna cringe as he walked on the bed.

"So sorry," said the Oracle, "he was raised in the Wastelands by savages."

"I was not! Just in the summer!"

The Doctor stopped at the night table and took out his sonic screwdriver. He waved it across as he scanned and stopped.

"Whose clock is this?"

Donna looked. "I don't know. It's just been there."

"It has a perception filter on it, like my TARDIS, makes it so you don't notice it," said the Doctor.

Donna rolled her eyes. "Your TARDIS is a big blue box in my sitting room. I noticed it."

"Well, not exactly like his TARDIS," said the Oracle.

"What about the clock?," asked John.

"Let's find out," said the Doctor.

He pointed the sonic screwdriver at the clock and activated it. The casing on the clock came open, revealing a...

"A Time Cube!," said the Doctor.

"A what?," asked Donna.

"A tiny piece of the Time Vortex that the Time Bureau uses to try to understand time travel. Still packs quite a punch, though. Rose Tyler must have left this here to try and get you two to make a Time Baby."

It all started to click for John. "That's what Jack was looking for. The Silence must have taken it and had Rose bring it here. The Silence wanted us to have a Time Baby. They want to use her."

"Use her for what?," asked Donna.

"We don't really know," said the Oracle.

"They wanted to use my daughter as an assassin," said Amy. "Then they took their daughter anyway."

"We need to find the Silence," said the Doctor.

"How?," asked John. "We haven't seen them since they took Rose Tyler. Ella hasn't seen any monsters."

"Ella?," asked Mayantha.

"Oh, right, Ella can remember seeing the monsters of the Silence," said John.

"She can remember seeing the monsters of the Silence?," asked the Oracle.

"Yes," said Donna.

"But no one can do that," said Mayantha.

"Sorry," said the Doctor, "getting this from Georgiana. Ella is the one who looks like Mummy, only smaller?"

"My daughter," said Donna.

"Have you seen them?," asked the Oracle.

Donna shrugged. "I must have. I remember seeing S&M pirate fetish lady."

"Right, she's always with them," said the Oracle. She stepped closer to Donna. "And you never did anything you don't remember why you did it?"

"No, I mean, I saw her at this fertility clinic and she wanted to do things, but it was just too creepy," said Donna.

"Oh, Donna," said John, "that is just too brilliant."

"What?," asked Donna.

"You and the other Donna. You both have great big minds, whole universes start forming around you."

"Right!," said the Doctor. "You and multiverse saving Donna, you're both made out of the same stuff! That's how you can resist the Silence, must be the same reason Ella can remember seeing them! She's got your big mind!"

"Then why can't Donna remember seeing them?," asked Amy.

"She's too grown up, head too full of numbers and reports and mortgages and gym memberships and-"

"Gym memberships?," Donna cut in at the Doctor. "What are you saying?"

"Sorry, I don't really know anything about being a grown up," said the Doctor. "I was guessing."

"So," said John, "we know what they've done, we sort of know what they want, but where are they?"

"They won't have gone far," said the Doctor. "Now, Georgiana says the not quite as big as Mummy and Daddy people are home."

"She says what?," asked Donna.

"Mummy! We're home!," shouted Ella from downstairs.

"There's a blue box in the sitting room!," Josh echoed.

"Oh, well, that does make sense now," said John.

* * *

><p>Lydia had been sitting in the TARDIS console room for hours. She wished her parents had bothered asking her if she wanted to go to Earth, she certainly didn't and as bad as it was at home, would much rather be in her room right now, not wondering what was on the other side of that door. She hadn't been able to hear anything since her father shut the door at Donna's insistence, she didn't want her baby wandering into a spaceship. She wondered how much longer they would be.<p>

How long could it possibly take to defeat the Silence and the Bad Wolf?

Tentatively, Lydia stepped towards the door as the TARDIS gave an encouraging hum. She rolled her eyes in exasperation. The ship was always in her head, in a way she couldn't cope with. It wasn't like the others Mayantha had shown her at the TARDIS cultivation center, her mother said it was because it had lived so long and seen so much. It was always nudging her and now it wanted her to open the door.

So, she relented. She opened the door and stepped outside.

"Oh, hello," said Donna. She was picking up some papers. "You must be Lydia. I'm Donna."

"Hi."

There was a gulf of silence between them.

"Your parents are in the back garden, so's your sister."

Lydia couldn't bear the idea of going outside. "I'm fine."

Donna nodded. "Are you hungry? We just ate. Thai takeaway."

"I'm fine."

John came down the stairs. "Donna, Ella needs your hep with the homework, it's history, I don't know anything after Queen Victoria gets killed." He stopped and looked at Lydia. "Oh, hello!"

Lydia froze. Seeing her dad's old self in front of her was just too much. The last time she had seen that face, he was dying, telling her it wasn't her fault and he would do it all again for her. He was babbling, trying to explain regeneration in the short time he had left, leaving her nothing but confused. She had just been saved, just accepted that she had a family, that maybe she wasn't alone with the monsters. Then he was gone.

"I should be getting back," said Lydia, rushing back into the TARDIS and shutting the door.

Donna looked at John. "She's a little shy. Understandable, I suppose."

"Yeah," said John.

"Has your eyes, though."

John shook his head. "She looks just like the Oracle's last regeneration. Sorry, my, the Doctor's-"

Donna smiled. "Don't get into a tizzy. I know what you mean." She gave him a peck on the lips. "Check on Georgiana, will you? What does he mean he speaks baby?"

"He speaks baby. He speaks everything."

Donna shook her head. "There's no such thing as speaking baby."

"You thought there was no such thing as time travel, or probably coming from a hand in a jar."

"Mummy!," shouted Ella.

"Coming!," shouted Donna. She pointed at John. "We'll discuss this later."

Donna hurried up the stairs and John turned to look at the TARDIS in his sitting room.


	33. Whatever Happened to Rose Tyler?

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. I do not own Rose Tyler, who is the main focus of this chapter, so you've been warned. I know, I know, but it's necessary. At this time, if you didn't read Regarding Mrs Smith, you might be a little lost, but if you're this far in here, you probably did. If you didn't, you could. I think it's kind of fun, people seem to like it. Oh, also, last time I posted a chapter, the site was all wonky, so I don't know if you want to check to see if you read it. Thanks for your reads and reviews, look forward to hearing from you. Happy reading!

EDIT: Please forgive me, I put Pearsall all through that first go because in RMS that character goes by two names and I meant to say Ellis, it's just one guy, I'm sorry if you were confused. Sorry, I've been up all night.

* * *

><p>The first stop after Rose was broken out of Torchwood was Rose's real hiding place for the TARDIS key. She had snuck it out of her parents' house back when she first went there to bug his computer. He couldn't believe he had it! That was hers! The Doctor had given it to her! So, she took it and decided to hide it well, in a safe deposit box. Kovarian wasn't pleased that Rose had lied about it being in Torchwood, but Rose didn't like the way she had been sent around like some kind of errand girl. First, finding an alternate Jack Harkness and sleeping with him to get his Time Bureau security card and then the whole nonsense with Donna's ex-husband. They levelled with each other. Rose wanted back to her universe, Kovarian wanted her to bring the TARDIS key.<p>

They were on their way.

They boarded a strange ship, Rose didn't remember a lot of it. Kovarian put her in a small room, for her own protection, she said and eventually Rose was let out.

They were in a warehouse. Kovarian led Rose out, into the sunlight and she couldn't believe it.

"This is London!," she exclaimed in glee. "The proper London, my London."

An old man with a cane and an eyepatch appeared.

"Madame Kovarian."

"Major Ellis. This is Rose Tyler."

"Hello," said Rose.

"I have a vehicle waiting to show you the target."

"A vehicle?," Kovarian asked with disdain.

"Forgive the inefficiency, but it will be more discreet."

They got into a dark Land Rover with dark windows. Kovarian and Ellis talked and talked, but Rose didn't listen. She was too busy looking around at her London. She couldn't believe she was here at last.

"How much further?," asked Kovarian.

"Just up the road this bit, oh, here they are. Nobody had mentioned them going out."

Rose looked out the window in the same direction as Kovarian and Ellis. And she saw something she couldn't put together at first.

It was the Doctor, only he wasn't in his normal clothes, except for the Chuck Taylors. He was in jeans, a U2 tee and a hoodie. He was carrying bags from TESCO as he walked down the sidewalk, laughing and talking to...

Donna. He was still with Donna as she pushed a pink pram. The Doctor leaned down to smile and talk to the occupant of the pram, a ginger haired baby girl.

The baby. The duplicate had told the truth about that. Rose tried to rationalize it, back to the sex pollen, but if that was the case why was he still with her? Why was he going to TESCO?

They arrived at some steps in front of a house and the Doctor put down the carrier bags to carry the pram up the steps. Donna tried to pick up the bags, but the Doctor was quickly down the steps again, taking them from her.

Rose watched as they walked into a house.

A proper house. With windows and curtains and probably carpets.

It was so...

Domestic.

"Oh, we've had a bit of luck," said Ellis, "the second is already on her way."

"The second what?," asked Rose, having suddenly tuned in to the conversation.

"Baby," Kovarian said crisply.

That bit of news hit Rose like a ton of bricks. Logic told her that a second baby meant that the first had been no mistake or ineveitable product of alien voyeurism.

Rose had never been big on logic where the Doctor was concerned. It just wasn't right. Rose couldn't believe it. Something was terribly wrong.

"What's she done to him?," asked Rose.

Neither Kovarian or Ellis answered. Rose looked next to her in the car and thought she saw something, but as she looked back to Kovarian to ask a question, she couldn't remember it, but she knew that Donna must have definitely done something to the Doctor. That had been her first instinct months ago and now she knew she was right looking at this. This was all wrong. The baby, the house, everything. Rose was going to help the Doctor get out of this.

"When does it begin?," asked Kovarian.

"The first signal is Monday morning," said Ellis. "During the school run."

* * *

><p>Rose was confined again, left to have her mind race about what had happened to the Doctor. The next time she was brought out was Thursday.<p>

They raced back to the house, where a slew of black Land Rovers and lorries were parked. Rose rushed in behind Kovarian and they went inside.

There were no carpets, just hardwood floors, but there was furniture and family photos of the Doctor and Donna smiling happily. Baby photos everywhere, baby toys, a playpen. Just baby, baby, baby...

"Who's in charge here?," shouted Kovarian.

A dark-haired woman in a black leather catsuit appeared. "I am. Who are you, people? Who authorized you?"

Then she paused as if she had seen something. Rose looked back to see what it was but when she looked back at the woman, she couldn't remember anything.

"Sorry, ma'am," she said. "Agent Johnson."

"Show us to the TARDIS."

Johnson led them downstairs into the cellar. The TARDIS sat there, lighting up the dim space.

"Open it," Kovarian said to Rose.

Rose finally took her TARDIS key from around her neck and walked over to the blue box at last. She put her key in the lock and it wouldn't turn.

"What's wrong?," asked Kovarian.

"It's stuck," said Rose. She fought with the lock, trying to force it, then suddenly a shield went up, sending Rose flying straight across the room, landing Rose on her bum, the key hitting her in the forehead.

Next, the TARDIS was dematerializing, brakes grinding, blowing wind in the room.

Kovarian looked down at Rose with intense displeasure.

* * *

><p>The next day, though Rose wasn't sure, she pulled herself off the deck of the ship, corpses strewn all over the floor. She looked up to see sunlight streaming in, the song of seagulls in the distance. She looked at Madame Kovarian as she pulled herself up and tried to straighten her tattered black suit.<p>

"This ship is ruined," said Kovarian.

"I don't understand," said Rose. "You dragged me all the way there, back to my universe and you brought me back."

"We didn't get what we needed."

"Well, that's not my fault! I don't know why the key didn't work!," spat Rose. "You were supposed to leave me there."

Kovarian grimaced. This girl really was becoming tiresome. "The 456 tried to kill us all. You're lucky to be alive and it's a small miracle we even made it back here."

"I don't want to be back here, though, I'm supposed to be with the Doctor! He needs me to help him!"

Kovarian bit her tongue. "Yes, and he won't be able to do that until we get what we want."

"Well, you blew that, didn't you?," Rose said tartly. "Can't catch that bitch and a baby."

There was the sound of sirens.

"Where have we landed?," asked Rose.

She and Kovarian rushed to look out of one of the busted panels.

"Cardiff," said Rose. "We're in Cardiff."

"Of course, we could only escape via the Cardiff Rift."

"We have to get out of here," said Rose as they heard sirens approaching.

Rose remembered what her mother had said at the mental hospital. When you love someone, it's not always about what you want.

Then she pushed it out of her head as she had so many times before and ran with Kovarian and the rest of the survivors.


	34. Void

Author's Notes: Still don't own Doctor Who. Anyway, sorry about the delay but I needed to put in some work on another story. Also, had that ten mile race. Anyway, thanks for the reads and the reviews, I can't wait for more. Happy reading!

* * *

><p>Lydia stepped out of the TARDIS again. She found Donna and Georgiana in the sitting room again.<p>

"Good morning," said Donna with a smile. "There was a spaceship crash or something in Cardiff. John's had to go in to work, your dad's gone with him."

"And my mother?"

"She and your sister went to meet Amy's fiance and prepare him for the Doctor." She smiled. "Why don't you sit down?"

Lydia sat on the sofa stiffly.

"You know you don't have to stay in there, Lydia," said Donna. "It's a big house , you could stay in one of the guest rooms or certainly have a look around. The neighborhood is safe, you could go out."

The thought of walking around an alien planet terrified Lydia, let alone staying outside the safety of the TARDIS.

"I'm fine," said Lydia.

Donna paused. "Yeah, but I don't think you are."

She had said it. She had actually said it. Time Lords were very good at a number of things: time travel, millinery, cricket, but they were rubbish at emotions. When she had come home, after the initial outburst of feeling, her parents were back to business as usual. Routine. Ceremony. That's how Time Lords dealt with adversity. They all knew Lydia wasn't alright, but went on anyway. This human she had just met could see it.

"That's just me," said Lydia.

Donna shook her head. "No, nobody feels like that all the time. At least you shouldn't. I had problems when I was around your age, pushed myself too hard, terrified I would disappoint my parents."

"Did you?"

"Disappoint my parents? No," said Donna.

Lydia nodded. "That's what I am. A massive disappointment."

"No," said Donna, "I'm sure you're not."

"I'm nothing. I can't go to the Academy, I can't look at the Untempered Schism, I can't even leave my house. I thought about running away, even got to the outer dome of the Citadel, I was too afraid to step outside."

"Can't you ask to go?," asked Donna. "Reapply or something?"

"It's not like that."

"I know a little of what happened to you, your parents can't blame you for it. I'm sure they don't."

"My mother lost a regeneration trying to keep the Silence from taking me. My father lost another one getting me back. I will never be able to prove to them that it was worth it." She took a breath. "I don't even think it was worth it. Humans at least you've only got the one life to get through."

Donna was in disbelief. This poor girl. John spoke of the Time Lords as if they were so powerful, but Lydia was just as vulnerable as the next girl, wasn't she? She was headed back to the blue box.

"Lydia," said Donna, "it'll get better."

Before Lydia could refute that, she added, "And believe me, I'm a mum. I would do anything for my kids, including die and I just have the one life."

Lydia went in the TARDIS wordlessly. The doorbell rang. Donna turned to Georgiana. "Who could that be? Mummy will go find out."

It was Ethan.

"What are you doing here?," she asked.

"I don't have a choice, Donna."

"Choice about what?"

Ethan jabbed her with a small needle. Before Donna could start screaming, she dropped to the ground.

Ella watched from the upstairs landing as Ethan dragged Donna in unconscious. She would have screamed, but it was worse than that. The monsters were with him, along with two other ladies. She ran down the hall to the master bedroom. She grabbed the phone and dialed frantically as Josh entered.

"Dad's here," he said.

"Torchwood, Gwen Cooper speaking."

"Ella Noble. I need to talk to my dad!"

"Ella? What's happened, love?"

Ella was about to speak when she heard the line go dead. She and Josh ran to the window as Miss Johnson ran in.

"You two get in the bathroom and lie in the tub!"

"The tub?", exclaimed Josh.

"Just do it!"

They hurried. Miss Johnson shut the door on them as she assured them that she was going to get their mummy and baby sister.

Josh looked at Ella, still perplexed about the events.

"The monsters are back," she said.

"We're set, right?," asked Ethan. He looked at Kovarian nervously. "You'll leave Josh and Ella alone?"

"Yes," said Kovarian. She stabbed Ethan with her own small needle and he dropped to the ground.

Kovarian turned and looked at Georgiana who stared at Donna's still body anxiously.

"Don't worry, little one. Everything's going to be fine."

"Stop what you're doing," said Johnson as she saw Kovarian lifting Georgiana out of her walker. "Put the baby down."

"How's she here?," asked Rose.

It's her alternate," hissed Kovarian. She looked at Johnson. "Think you can stop us?"

"You can't teleport out of here and you won't get past me."

Kovarian gave a sinister smile. "I'm not teleporting. Your key, Miss Tyler."

Rose put her key in the lock and Kovarian put Georgiana's hand on the handle. The TARDIS door popped open.

"How'd you do that?," asked Rose.

"DNA lock," said Kovarian. "Authorized sequences only."

"Wait, does that mean I'm not authorized on my Doctor's TARDIS?," Rose asked suddenly.

Johnson tried to shoot at Kovarian, but Rose took her down instead.

"Let's go, Miss Tyler," said Kovarian.

Rose had never been more eager to hear words in her life.

There was one other time. At Bad Wolf Bay.

* * *

><p>John had spent hours with the Doctor at Torchwood and was starting to wonder how this regeneration had managed to survive this long. It certainly wasn't because of his charms.<p>

"Well, that is just superb!," said the Doctor, looking at the monitor of the crash. He turned to John and pointed at a piece of wreckage. "Don't you see it?"

John walked over to the monitory to have a closer look and put on his glasses.

"The brainy specs!," the Doctor said in glee. "I miss those! Do you think I could pull it off?"

John ignored him. "They turned their spaceship into a Void ship!" He shook his head. "Why? Why would anyone do that?"

"Well, you said that's what mad girl wanted," said the Doctor, "it must be what the Silence wanted as well. Question is why?"

Gwen entered. "He's ready."

"Splendid," said the Doctor.

* * *

><p>The Doctor followed John into the interrogation room.<p>

Ephraim looked as if the air had been sucked from the cell. He looked up at the Doctor in fear.

"Hello, Ephraim," said John.

Ephraim wasn't looking at him, though. His eyes were set on the Doctor. What life had been left in him was gone.

"It's you," said Ephraim in awe.

"Yes, it is."

He looked from the Doctor to John in confusion. The Doctor ignored this and pulled the small stool to Ephraim's bedside.

"Now, you've been to the other side, haven't you? Alternate dimensions, all in the name of the Silence. What were you doing there?"

"There was a plan..." he started slowly.

"What sort of plan?," asked John.

"These creatures, they used children..." Ephraim looked even paler.

"It's alright," said the Doctor. "What were they called?"

Ephraim said something unintelligible to John.

The Doctor nodded. He turned to John. "Don't suppose your father ever told you a story about monsters that came to Gallifrey in the Dark Times and stole children?"

"I remember it vaguely."

The Doctor looked back at Ephraim. "Is that what you need Time Babies for? To give them to the creatures?"

"No, it was just a cover," said Ephraim. "We were going to get the humans to hand over the child and the Noble woman thinking they were in exchange for the children of Earth."

"Children of Earth," the Doctor mused. "They could hardly pass that up, could they?"

"Donna Noble," John said frantically. "Did you take Donna Noble? And the baby?"

Ephraim shook his head. "It didn't work. The exchange never took place and the creatures turned on us. We were slaughtered."

The Doctor nodded. "And you used the emergency dimensional shift to get back here via the Cardiff Rift. Just barely."

"Donna and the baby? Were they alright?," asked John.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?," exclaimed John. "She was suffering from a Human Time Lord metacrisis! Her brain could have burned up if she realized why you wanted that baby!"

The Doctor leaned in to Ephraim. "Now, Ephraim, tell me this, I've met Donna Noble, at least this universe's version of her and I don't think her alternate would be the sort of person to try and kidnap a baby from, or worse yet try to kidnap. Why did the Silence want her?"

"She was pregnant."

John was stunned. He hadn't thought of that somehow.

"Well," said the Doctor, "I certainly work fast in the other universe. Two Time Babies in two years. I do hope they're ginger. Ephraim, just one more thing. What do you need them for?"

"The guardian."

"The guardian. Which one?"

Ephraim shook his head.

"What does a Guardian need a Time Baby for?," asked the Doctor.

"I don't know."

John suddenly had a sinking feeling. "Ephraim, what are you not telling us?"

The Doctor's face paled. "Something's wrong. Something's very, very wrong."

Gwen ran in. "John, Ella rang and then the line cut out."

John looked back at Ephraim. "What's happening?," he growled.

"It's already over," said Ephraim.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes: Sorry, sometimes cliffhangers happen. I know, I promise I'll update this one sooner. You might try having a look at my other story, First Impressions, especially the latest chapter? Hint, hint.<p> 


	35. An Unexpected Guest

Author's Notes: I don't own Doctor Who, any of the Doctors, Rose, a TARDIS. Thanks for the reads and the reviews. Sorry about the cliffhangers, but they have to happen sometimes. I would love to know what you think of this chapter and happy reading!

* * *

><p>Ella and Josh had been cowering in the tub in their parents en suite, listening to the noises in the sitting room.<p>

Then they heard one more.

The sound of the TARDIS.

Josh looked at Ella. They were in silent agreement as to what the strange grinding meant.

Josh leapt out first and ran down the steps, quickly followed by Ella. They saw Donna and their father lying unconscious and nice Miss Johnson, bleeding.

The blue box was phasing in and out, as if there was some sort of argument happening. Josh looked at Georgiana's empty walker and ran towards the TARDIS. He banged his hands on the door.

"Let my sister go! Give me my sister!" He said pounding and kicking at it. Some sort of strange energy was coming off the blue box and Josh could see it on his hand as he was forced to stare at it in wonder.

* * *

><p>Lydia had been reading when the cloister bell sounded. She looked at the monitor that had suddenly appeared in her room. It was the monsters, some other girl she didn't know and Madame Kovarian.<p>

Madame Kovarian. Every time she had seen her it had only meant bad news. It had meant that something worse than River Song was required for the task at hand.

And that was never good because River Song could do plenty on her own.

And they had the baby. Lydia grabbed the wall as the TARDIS lurched forward. The ship hummed.

"Okay, but what do I do? I don't know how to pilot you! I don't know how to get rid of those monsters!"

The ship hummed again.

"Instruction manual?," she asked. "Since when do you have a manual?"

The TARDIS began a hum that would attest to her hundreds of years history with her thief, but Lydia stopped the Old Girl short. An instruction manual appeared on her bed.

"Congratulations," she read aloud, "you have stolen a Type 40 TARDIS... Really?"

She began flipping through the pages when she noticed a messenger bag had appeared on the bed.

"What's that for?," she asked.

The ship hummed insistently. Lydia looked back frantically at the book. She located Chapter 497: What To Do When Your TARDIS Has Been Boarded.

"Step One: Locate a control room, not the one that's been boarded." She looked at the ship. "Not sarcastic at all, are you?"

The ship hummed.

"Okay, I'm going," said Lydia, putting the bag over her head, carrying the manual. She looked out into the corridor and quickly hurried down to the door the TARDIS had just slid open.

It was the last Doctor's control room, the one she had run into as they narrowly escaped the Silence and what remained of River Song's henchmen.

The tenth Doctor's coat was still tossed absentmindedly over a coral strut.

Lydia hurried over to the console and saw the monitor was tuned to the activities of the main console room. She looked at the navigational controls which seemed to have gone haywire.

"Where are they going?," she asked. "It's as if... across the Void. Not across the Void."

The TARDIS hummed an answer.

"Not the Forbidden Universe!," she said. "Why don't you stop them? Don't you have some sort of safety feature or something?"

The TARDIS hummed back that the ship's thief had disengaged almost all of the safety features.

"Okay," said Lydia, flipping through the manual, "I need to get the baby, get rid of them, get back to my own universe." She checked the power report. "Okay, slight problem getting back to my own universe." She kept flipping. "And all of these options for getting rid of them are not really great. Teleport, yes, how do I teleport the baby out?"

She found the instructions for that and folded down the corner on the page.

There was a loud click and the ship rocked. Lydia looked at a screen that announced Emergency Navigation had begun.

"What do you mean you'll drop me off?," she asked frantically. "Where?"

The ship hummed again.

"Then I'll be stuck and her and we'll never get home. You're our only way out!"

The TARDIS hummed again.

"Oh, that's just great!," she said.

Lydia took a deep breath. "I have to leave. Okay, might as well do this."

The TARDIS hummed in agreement and lurched violently again. Lydia followed the directions for teleportation and soon found Georgiana sitting in the jumpseat.

"Hi," she said. "We've got to leave."

Georgiana gurgled.

"No, I'm sorry," said Lydia approaching the jump seat, picking up the baby. "I don't know how to get you back to your mummy, or my mummy for that matter."

The TARDIS hummed again.

Lydia looked back to the book. "Engaging the intruder repellent program and evacuation protocols." She turned to see Georgiana watching her. "Okay, just bear with me."

Lydia hit the controls and the TARDIS lurched. The console room lit up and the door flew open as the autopilot engaged. Lydia heard footsteps down the hall.

"Okay, going then," said Lydia. She grabbed Georgiana and looked back to see Madame Kovarian and Rose.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little Time Lady," said Kovarian.

Lydia nodded. "It is." She started backing towards the door.

"Hand her over," said Kovarian. "We both know you won't win this. There's nowhere to go. There never has been for you. You belong to us."

"Give her back, we need her," said Rose.

Lydia ignored the girl who seemed to have something in her mouth, at least she supposed that's why she was talking like that. She kept moving towards the door.

"Funny thing about the Type 40 TARDIS, I just read it in the instructions," she said, "you know what it calls someone with a TARDIS key and an incompatible DNA pattern?"

Lydia grabbed the Doctor's coat off the strut by the door as Kovarian glared.

Only Rose took the bait. "What about it?"

"Unauthorized," finished Lydia, stepping out of the door with Georgiana. "Unauthorized."

The TARDIS door slammed shut and violently dematerialized. Lydia realized wherever she was it was raining and night. She pulled the coat over her and Georgiana.

"Box go bye-bye," said Georgiana.

"Yes, it did." She sighed. "Okay, we've got to formulate some sort of plan."

Georgiana looked at her blankly.

"Fine, I'll formulate it."

Lydia started walking. She spotted a huge house in the distance.

"Well," she said, "let's try there."

Lydia knocked at the door and waited. A man answered.

"Yes?"

"Yes," said Lydia. She held out the psychic paper she had found in the bag. "I have this."

The man looked up at her. "I shall fetch the master. Come inside, Miss."

The footman led her inside. He called for the housekeeper to bring them blankets and another man to start a fire.

"Would you care for some tea, Miss?"

"Uh, tea would be lovely."

A dark haired young man appeared in his dressing gown. He held the psychic paper and gave Lydia and Georgiana a once over.

"This says you are my cousin on my mother's side and that your parents were murdered by French revolutionaries."

This was the story the psychic paper had invented?

"You travelled to England unattended? How did you escape the revolutionaries?"

"Uh, the Marquise of Seingalt aided us," she said at once and immediately regretted it. It might have been the wrong year and then she remembered that the Marquise of Seingalt was a title made up by Giacomo Casanova, she had heard it in a long winding story by her father in which he explained why he owed Casanova three chickens.

"Yes, I see that," the man said re-examining the psychic paper as if it was many sheets. "The Countess of Carlisle was certain to note that."

She really hoped that the TARDIS had left something in the bag that would explain the story. Franch revolutionaries, Marquise of Seingalt, Countess of Carlisle.

He looked at her squarely. "Why did the Countess not send you in a carriage? It's unseemly for two young ladies to be on their own on such a night."

Stupid Countess. "Uh, she did, but there were highwaymen." Was that a thing or was she thinking of Robin Hood?

"Well, you must be seen to," said the man. "Mrs. Baxter, see to their rooms. And we must find a nurse to take in Georgiana."

Oh, no, that was bad.

"Does Georgiana have to go?," asked Lydia. "I mean, the rest of my family is dead."

The man nodded soberly. "Of course, cousin. You are quite right. Forgive me. We will find someone to look after her here."

"Banana?," said Georgiana.

"She can speak?," he said in surprise.

"Yeah," said Lydia. "If she doesn't make sense it's because of the revolutionaries."

"Good God! What have you been through, dear cousin?"

"You don't know the half of it."

Donna awoke to find that her sitting room was full of Torchwood personnel, her ex-husband was being hauled out by Gwen as she shoved him into the wall and feigned apologies, Miss Johnson was being taken out on a gurney by medics and John was sitting next to her on the floor, looking as if the life had been sucked out of him.

She looked to the walker. Empty.

"Where is she?," asked Donna.

"I'm sorry, Donna, I'm so sorry."

"I don't want to hear how sorry you are!," shouted Donna. "I want you to go and get her!"

Donna looked over as the Doctor traced the TARDIS' imprint in the carpet with his sonic screwdriver.

"You! Floppy hair! Do something!"

The Doctor looked back. "Is my hair floppy?"

Donna stood, refusing John's help. "Get in your spaceship and do something!"

The Doctor motioned at the carpet. "They've taken my spaceship, as you might have noticed."

Donna was nonplussed. "Okay, hire one!"

"It's a TARDIS, Donna, you can't just hire one!"

"Well, why not?"

"Because it's not like that!," he motioned at John. "Could you tell her it's not like that?"

Donna put her finger in the Doctor's chest. "I want my baby back."

"Well, so do I!," the Doctor growled.

Donna stopped. "They took Lydia?"

The Doctor didn't answer.

"I'm sorry," said Donna. She took a breath. "All the same, you two need to work this out and find them."

"The Doctor's universe," said John. "That's the only place that she would go."

"Okay," said Donna, "go there."

"Well," began the Doctor, "several problems. One, transport. We have no way there. Two, I'll probably get exiled for going, but I've been exiled before, not a big one. Three, once we get there, where are they?"

"What?," asked Donna. "Is that it? What about your daughter? Where's that stupid cannon thing they let that stupid bint use?"

"I took it apart, Donna," said John. "We can't do that, it's too unstable. It could destroy all the universes."

"Agreed. TARDIS is definitely the way to go."

"We don't have one," said John.

"I'm aware that. I'm currently sorting that out."

Donna looked to see Josh and Ella standing nearby. She opened her arms and they ran into them.

"It's alright, sweethearts," said Donna.

"We tried, Mummy," said Josh.

"The monsters came too quick," said Ella.

Donna shook her head. "No, no, you're safe. You did exactly as you were supposed to."

"I couldn't get the door open," said Josh.

She squeezed them closer. "It's alright."

The door flew open. The Oracle entered, trailed by Amy and Mayantha.

She looked at the Doctor. "You're the first one I am going to kill for whatever you did to piss the Silence off!"

"What if I haven't done it yet?," asked the Doctor.

She leaned in. "Even better." She turned to John. "The next one I'm going to kill is the Doctor from your universe for whatever possessed him to take a nineteen year old girl as a companion."

"How did you know about that?," asked John.

"Amy told me everything," said the Oracle.

"Uh, Gwen told me everything," Amy piped in.

"Not to mention the bit where she opened the heart of the TARDIS which frankly is a death sentence if it doesn't kill you and then giving up a regeneration for her! I don't believe in giving away regenerations for stupidity," said the Oracle.

"That's true," the Doctor said. "It's her rule number one."

"Shut up!," said the Oracle. Then she turned back to John. "Then giving her no sort of punishment, then continuing to travel with her, then never mentioning that he wasn't really in love with her."

John shrugged. "Well, he was once-"

The Oracle moved closer to him. "Well, you and he can keep lying to yourselves about that one, but if you leave a girl in a parallel universe, you're just not that into her."

Donna nodded. "Yeah, that's true."

"Yeah, I've got to agree with Donna and the Oracle," said Amy.

"Wait, I've changed my mind, I'm killing Rose Tyler first. Or possibly trapping her in the event horizon of a collapsing star, I haven't decided which yet," said the Oracle. "So, Rose, I'm guessing Madame Kovarian, then the Doctor, then the other Doctor." She looked as the Doctor seemed to be following a trail from the TARDIS imprint to Josh. "You're not helping your case."

The Doctor looked at Josh. "You said you couldn't open the door."

"I couldn't, I tried," said Josh.

"No, you couldn't have, Josh, but that means you touched it. The residual energy is on your hand."

"What does that mean?," asked Donna.

"It's not dangerous," John said quickly.

"He's created a trail," said the Doctor. He looked up gleefully. "We can use it to follow my TARDIS through the Void and to try and find the right universe."

"Forgetting one slight problem," said the Oracle.

"I'm sorting that out," said the Doctor.

"There's still when and where," said Mayantha. "How do we know where and when they are?"

John suddenly ran out of the room and upstairs.

"John!," called Donna.

He ran up to the walk-in wardrobe and to one of the small boxes he had when he moved in. There he found the clothes he had been wearing at Bad Wolf Bay- they had never been quite right since being dunked in the sea on the ferry home. Inside the pocket, he found something that had finally come good.

"I know where they are!," he shouted excitedly holding up a book.

"Oh, Rassilon, you're all the same..." groaned the Oracle.

"What is that?," asked Donna.

"Well, it's a book!," he said.

"Yeah, noticed that," said Donna.

"Pride and Prejudice!," said John.

"Not following at all," said the Doctor.

"The TARDIS put this in my pocket. Do you know what this book is about?"

Donna rolled her eyes. "You said two people who can't stand each other and they fall in love anyway."

"Yes, it is, but you know who's in it?" He looked at the Oracle. "A girl called Lydia," he turned back to Donna, "and a girl called Georgiana. On one level, this book is about protecting those girls. This is where they are!"

"Suppose it's just a coincidence," said Donna.

"Yeah," said John, "it's never a coincidence with the Doctor."

"Other Doctor?," asked Josh. He looked over at this universe's Doctor. "Do you mean there's more than one of him?"


	36. The Proposition

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who, the Duplicate Doctor or Donna. If I did, you would have seen that series on BBC One or BBC America depending on your location. Question is, how do I get David Tennant and Catherine Tate to be on both shows? It's only fifteen episode a year, so even with two, that's only thirty, but real question, do both shows have Christmas specials? That was silly, but let it offset some sadness in this chapter. Thanks for the reads and reviews, happy reading and let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>It had been hours since they contacted the parallel world and Gwen was still fixated on one thing.<p>

"So what?," Adeola asked Gwen.

"Rhys Williams!," she spat. "I'm married to Rhys Williams! And I'm having a baby!"

"It's an alternate reality," said John. "Try not to dwell on it."

John was looking over the Doctor's shoulder as they tried to use some confiscated Torchwood technology to provide a communications uplink to the other Doctor's universe. Some attempts had been more successful than others. The most recent had left Gwen in a bit of a state.

"Yeah, but Rhys?"

"I thought he looked cute," said Jack, looking at readings on another screen.

"Didn't you say once he got killed by Cybermen?," asked Adeola. "Maybe you would have married him if he hadn't died here."

"Rhys?," she squeaked.

"This bloody thing!," shouted the Doctor as he banged his fist on the alien console. "Don't you have a multi phasic inverter coil?"

"We don't," said John. "We'll have to make do."

The Doctor groaned loudly and took away the sonic screwdriver from the console. "It's hopeless. Not enough power for visual communication. I miss my TARDIS."

"We all miss your TARDIS," muttered John. He only missed the TARDIS because it was the best route to his daughter, but the Doctor was linked to it. John missed Donna's smile more, he missed Josh and Ella feeling safe.

"Could you get more?," asked Jack.

"You want to burn out the sun?," asked John, happily snapped away from his thoughts. He paused. "Not enough power for visual communication, but suppose we could get anything through? Suppose we just text?"

"Text?," asked the Doctor.

"Text what?," asked Adeola.

"The Doctor has blinders when it comes to Rose Tyler. If she finds him before we do he won't believe she's turned," said John.

"He had the sense not to marry her," said Gwen, relieved to be talking about someone else's personal life again.

"No, he just sees her as this innocent," said John. "He won't be able to face the truth."

"So, we need to text the Doctor that Rose Tyler is a psychotic bint and not to be trusted," said Gwen.

"I don't think we can power that many characters," said the Doctor. "The simpler, the better."

It struck John what message might convey the proper intent.

"Bad Wolf is coming," he said. He looked at the Doctor. "Could you power Bad Wolf is coming?"

"Devonshire might lose power for a few hours," said the Doctor. "Do you think they'll mind?"

John looked at the other members of Torchwood who just shrugged. John looked back at the Doctor. "I don't even know what's in Devonshire."

"Nor I. Hagamoslo!"

"What?," asked John.

"It's Spanish for 'Let's do it.'" The Doctor did some work on the console with the sonic screwdriver and then hit a button. "There we are. One message to an alternate dimension on the way."

John nodded. "I hope the Doctor gets it in time."

Then the lights went out.

"Oh," said the Doctor. "Sorry, on the bright side, I suppose Devonshire's still got power."

* * *

><p>Georgiana and Lydia had been gone two days. Josh looked at Ella. Their secret couldn't hold any longer.<p>

"We have to tell them," he said decisively.

Ella shook her head. "But Daddy will be mad, he said not to touch anything."

"It's the only chance, though." Josh sighed. "You've seen how Mum is."

"We'll be grounded forever!"

"Maybe, but if it helps get Georgiana back I think we have to try."

Ella nodded soberly.

Josh led the way downstairs, Ella behind her slightly older brother. The first adult they encountered was the Doctor as he worked on something at the kitchen table and even they knew that was using the term loosely.

"Do you really think he can help?," Ella whispered. "He's so silly."

"John seems to thinks so," said Josh. "Besides, maybe he won't be as cross as a real grown-up."

Josh walked over to the Doctor. Ella followed.

"Hello, Doctor," said Josh.

"Hello, Joshua! How are you? And Ella! How are things?"

"Alright," said Josh.

The Doctor nodded. "And your mum?"

"She's sad," said Ella.

"Of course she is," said the Doctor. "You're not to worry. John and I will sort this out."

"Yeah, I had a question," said Josh. "You don't have a TARDIS, right?"

"No," said the Doctor.

"And Mayantha told us that you can't build a TARDIS, you have to grow one. Right?"

"No," said the Doctor, curious where this was headed.

"But suppose you had the coral bits-"

"But I don't."

"Just suppose you did, could you make one?"

"Supposing I did have the 'coral bits' I would still have to grow one. There are ways to speed that process up, but as I don't have any bits at all, this is all purely speculative."

Josh looked at Ella. She nodded and he looked back at the Doctor.

"We need to show you something."

* * *

><p>The Doctor watched in amazement as Joshua opened the door to the cupboard in his room. It was TARDIS coral, expanding to the ceiling and across, with pieces of school uniforms and sports kits hanging off the branches.<p>

"Oh, you, beauty!," exclaimed the Doctor. He looked at Josh. "Joshua, this may seem impertinent and I am extremely grateful, but why is there TARDIS coral in your cupboard?"

Josh looked at Ella anxiously, then back at the Doctor.

"See, Mayantha showed us her TARDIS last time she visited-"

"Showed you?," asked the Doctor.

"She left the door unlocked."

"Ah."

"We went inside, just to peek and we saw the coral and it, well..."

"It was talking to us," said Ella.

"Talking to you?," asked the Doctor.

"It wanted us to take it and then this piece fell off, so I picked it up and we had to sneak out before John found us in there or we'd have been grounded and I was already in trouble for hiding notes from my teacher, so we took it and I planted it in a pot in my room. I gave it water and sun- well, until it got too big to sit in the window- and Miracle Gro-"

"Miracle Gro?," asked the Doctor.

"Yeah, I followed all the instructions on the bottle. I've been getting it with my pocket money."

The Doctor looked at the shelf. "You have an ultraviolet light in there."

"Oh, Lisette's boyfriend had this garden he has in one of the rooms in his flat and I asked how he grows things inside and he said he would give me one as long as I didn't tell Mum."

"What was he growing in there?," asked the Doctor. "Never mind. Obvious."

"What's obvious?," asked Ella.

"So, can you use it?," asked Josh.

The Doctor looked at it. "Earth born TARDIS coral, cultivated by a human, I just don't understand how-" He took a breath. "Of course! Your mum!"

"My mum?," asked Josh.

"Donna Noble with the great, big mind! She's passed it on to you two! Ella, you can remember seeing the Silence. Josh, you must have enough latent psychic talent to hear the TARDIS coral and to provide stimulation for it! See, Mayantha's cutting was from my TARDIS, this is a piece of my TARDIS! She spoke to you because she knew this would happen!"

"Your ship's a girl?," asked Josh.

* * *

><p>Donna was startled to hear the sound of a wall breaking in Josh's room. She sprinted down the hallway, finding Josh and Ella standing by as the Doctor punched into the wall with a sledgehammer.<p>

"What the hell are you doing?," she shouted.

"Tearing down the wall, I need to get the coral out of the cupboard," he said as if that sentence made sense.

Donna looked and indeed there was some sort of coral-like tree-ish sort of thing in Josh's cupboard. She looked at her son.

"What's that?," asked Donna.

"It's coral."

"Where did you get it?"

"Mayantha's TARDIS."

"You stole from Mayantha?"

"The coral said to!"

"What sort of excuse is that?," exclaimed Donna.

"My sort," said the Doctor, preparing for another blow of the hammer. "The only really impossible thing about this whole scenario is that those two aren't actually genetic relatives of mine!"

With that, he banged the hammer into the wall again.

"Stop it!," said Donna.

The Doctor dropped the hammer and looked at Donna. "Just so you know, my plan is to increase the growth rate on this TARDIS coral to make an actual TARDIS to use it to travel across the Void between realities in order to retrieve both our daughters, but in order to do that, I need to first get it out of this cupboard!"

Donna stood, considering.

"Well, give me a minute, I'll get the ax out of the garage."

* * *

><p>It had been days since Georgiana had been gone. Too many days for Donna's liking. John and the Doctor had thrown themselves into the task of using the energy trail surrounding Josh to plot a possible course to the other universe. The Oracle and Mayantha had taken up the task of growing another TARDIS. Donna had put aside all thoughts of business, the idea of making money just seemed too petty right now. How could she think of anything but Georgiana? Was she safe? Was she being looked after properly?<p>

In a quiet moment, the Oracle assured Donna that Lydia might appear timid, but she was certain that some greatness laid within, just waiting to be awoken. John seemed to take this whole Pride and Prejudice business as a sign that the girls were safe for certain. Donna wasn't so sure. He tried to assure her that the Doctor and Donna must have them and there would be no place safer.

Another her, holding her baby, singing to her, rocking her as she cried. Taken care of alongside the Doctor and Donna's other children, treated as their own. It was a little reassuring. Donna couldn't possibly have asked for more than for Georgiana to be safe and cared for and loved, but it seemed like a hollow victory because what she wanted more than anything was to be reunited with her baby.

So, here she was, in the middle of the night while the rest of the house slept she had gone into Georgiana's nursery as she had done every night. Sometimes she cried, sometimes tears wouldn't come, as if she had run out and she just sat there. She sat in the rocking chair, holding Georgiana's favorite blanket and favorite bear, trying to conjure up some memory of her, to pretend it was real and it was happening until she was finally forced to remember that her arms were empty.

She wanted her baby.

"I know what you're feeling."

Donna looked up startled, the Doctor was in the doorway.

"The emptiness of it..." he said. "The whole universe just suddenly seems shallow."

"You went after your girl, though, I can't even do that."

"It took me twenty years."

"Twenty years?" The thought of that shook Donna.

"I searched the far reaches of the universe, moving through space and time with one singular purpose. I did what you're doing. I took a toy from her nursery, I kept it with me, to remind me, not that I needed reminding,

Donna didn't answer. She didn't need to. She was suddenly struck by the way this man she had taken for an idiot had nailed it.

"I need to tell you something because John won't," he said.

"What do you mean he won't?"

"He's too worried about you getting hurt," he said. "Truth is, so am I, but you need to know because I don't want you to suffer the way I did."

"What?"

"My wife and daughter are very close to finishing the TARDIS. John and I have a course plotted. The thing is we may not be able to come back. It could be a one way ticket."

"So," Donna began trying to work it out aloud, "you all could go and find the girls, but not be able to bring them home? I might never see Georgiana again? Or John?"

"You need to know that. I know you have other children to think of."

"I can't just leave them," said Donna. "Ethan's no father. My mum, she just doesn't have the patience for them."

"Right," said the Doctor.

"Could I bring them?," asked Donna. "Would it be safe?"

"They would be safer at home," said the Doctor.

"I can't go on like this," said Donna. "I can't be separated from my children like this. I can't have them growing up without a father."

The Doctor furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Donna stiffened. "Never mind."

"No, if John goes with me, Georgiana doesn't grow up without a father, but Josh and Ella have been without a father most of their lives, so..." His jaw dropped. "You!"

Donna rolled her eyes. "Me, what?"

He leaned in and whispered, "You're having more Time Babies! I can't believe I didn't notice the smell before! You humans! Your breeding habits are amazing!"

"Okay, shut up now."

"Right. Shutting up." The Doctor paused. "You haven't told John."

"I didn't know how," Donna said sheepishly. "We weren't going to have any more, just because of the risk, I was on the pill. That three percent failure rate must be a load of bollocks. Besides, with Georgiana gone..."

"I know," said the Doctor.

"I've raised children on my own, I don't like it," said Donna. "As for Time Babies or whatever, I don't think I'll be able to protect them on my own. I couldn't stop them from taking Georgiana. I couldn't bear it again."

The Doctor nodded.

"So, spaceman," said Donna, "get me and my family to the other universe safely and we'll worry about getting back after we find our girls."

The Doctor looked at Donna. "John won't like it."

"Then let's not tell him yet."

The Doctor held out his hand. "Agreed."

Donna shook hands with the Doctor on what might have been the riskiest proposition she had ever made, but if it made her family whole it would be worth it.


	37. The Wolf Rises

Author's Notes: I still don't own Doctor Who. Why not? Anyway, thanks for the reads. This is a short chapter, but necessary. Hope you like it anyway. Thanks, let me know what you think and happy reading!

* * *

><p>Rose watched helplessly as Lydia walked out with the baby into the rain, wondering what unauthorized could have meant.<p>

She soon found out.

The door snapped shut and Rose was thrown to the floor as the TARDIS lurched about uncontrollably. Rose and Madame Kovarian held on to anything they could until Rose could get to her feet.

"What's happened?," Rose asked Madame Kovarian as she went fruitlessly around the console. There were no readings.

Kovarian grimaced. "She's set us in the Vortex."

"Okay, well, let's get out of it then," said Rose. She started pushing and pulling on controls that wouldn't shift.

"Stop being pointless," said Kovarian. "We're deadlocked. That devious little girl. I never did like her."

Rose looked up. "You mean you know her?"

"An enemy," said Kovarian. "We're stuck until someone comes and gets this TARDIS."

Rose looked around. "We've got to get this console open," she announced.

"What?," asked Kovarian.

"The TARDIS, I can get it to go where I need if I can just look at it."

"Look at it?," asked Kovarian.

"I did it before," said Rose. "I looked into it, told it where I needed to go. I don't remember everything that happened after that, but it works."

Rose crouched down, looking at the casing of the heart of the TARDIS.

"How do we get it open?," she asked, looking at Kovarian.

Something happened as Rose looked away. She realized the casing was open.

"Who opened that?," she asked, looking back at Kovarian.

For a split second, Rose could have sworn she saw some kind of monster dead on the floor, a group of them in fact. She looked up at Kovarian and realized it must have been the TARDIS, reaching out and thrashing her, leaving her near dead on the ground. Rose looked back at it herself.

It was coming towards her.

Then it happened and she could see it all. Life and death. The sun, the moon, the stars, galaxies turning.

Yet she could only think of one thing.

The Doctor.

Rose turned to Madame Kovarian, eyes glowing. Kovarian looked up at her in terror.

"What are you?," Kovarian asked, trembling.

The gold energy overtook Rose and she disappeared.

Kovarian was left alone in the TARDIS with only the corpses of the Silence to keep her company.

She was really starting to hate Rose Tyler.

* * *

><p>John looked at the Doctor as they stood outside the cellar door.<p>

"Should we go in?," he asked.

"No."

"They haven't come out of there in days, though."

Since the TARDIS coral had been retrieved from Josh's cupboard, the Oracle and Mayantha had taken on the task of actually turning it into a TARDIS. They had taken over the cellar to this end as John still wasn't certain who in Torchwood he should trust with the knowledge of a coral that was about to grow into a spaceship. John and the Doctor had tried to help, eventually resulting in their being unceremoniously tossed out by the Oracle. Quite literally in the Doctor's case.

Donna joined them at the door to the cellar.

"Have you two still not gone in?," she asked.

"She told me not to," the Doctor said plaintively.

Donna rolled her eyes and opened the cellar door. The men followed closely behind.

The Oracle was currently sitting on an old sofa nursing a cup of tea. She looked up at the visitors.

"Oh. Hello. I was wondering when you would get curious."

"You said not to come down here!," spat the Doctor.

"As if that's ever stopped you."

"So," said Donna, looking at the thing in her cellar that currently resembled a giant gourd, "how's it coming?"

"Oh, nearly done. I might need some Earth parts to round out things since I don't have access to the replication database on Gallifrey and I could only use freeware." She motioned at the sofa. "Do you mind if I take this? It doesn't seem as if you're using it."

"It's nearly done?," asked Donna. "It doesn't look like the other ones."

"I don't have a chameleon circuit, there won't be any sorting that."

"So, wherever we go it'll look like TARDIS coral?," asked John.

The Oracle scowled. "I know, not as subtle as a big blue wooden box, but we shall have to make do."

"How did you get it to grow?," asked the Doctor. "It needs the Untempered Schism."

"Lydia mentioned that. What is it?," asked Donna.

"It's a gap in the facric of reality," said John. "Through it, you can see the whole of the Time Vortex."

Donna nodded. "Okay, I still don't know what that is. I heard the words, I knew what each one of them meant and yet when you put them together, they mean nothing."

"It's what makes us who we are," offered the Oracle. She looked at the Doctor. "Wouldn't you like to know how I worked my way around that?"

The Oracle led them into the TARDIS, which still looked very rustic on the inside. Amy was standing by Mayantha who was working under the controls.

"Oh, good, Donna. Someone else who speaks English," she said.

"What have you been doing down here?," John asked her.

Amy shrugged. "You know, handing Mayantha spanners, running to Starbucks, that sort of thing."

"Why can Amy help and we can't?," asked the Doctor.

"Because she doesn't have a propensity for blowing up things," said the Oracle. "Now, do you want to know how we grew a TARDIS?"

"Yes," said John.

The Oracle walked over to the center of the console room, a round table with what actually were bits and pieces of everything, not just looking like it. She opened a door on the main controls, revealing the time cube.

"You got it to feed off the time cube!," the Doctor said in amazement.

"Yes, at the moment it's the heart of the TARDIS, so no one move it," she advised.

"I knew there was a reason I married you!," the Doctor said cheerfully.

"Yes," said the Oracle. "That and I'm the only one who would although at the moment the reason why escapes me."

"And this will get us to the other universe?," asked Donna.

"It's likely to be a rough ride, but it ought to do the trick," said the Oracle.

John realized that something important had been said. "Us?"

"Yeah," said Donna.

The Doctor looked down sheepishly.

"You knew about this?," John accused.

"I might have sort of in fact suggested it," said the Doctor.

John looked at Donna. "You're not going."

"Since when do you get to tell me what to do?," said Donna.

"This is too dangerous, Donna. What about Josh and Ella? What if something happens? What if we can't get back?"

"That's why Josh and Ella are coming," said Donna.

"Oh," said the Oracle. "How many more rooms do I need?"

"we can just have hammocks," said the Doctor.

"Josh and Ella are coming?," John asked incredulously. "Donna, have you completely lost your mind?"

She was steaming at him now. "Have I lost my mind? Why didn't you tell me you might not be able to come back?"

"It's... just a possibility," said John.

"It's completely unacceptable," said Donna. "You'd have made certain Jackie Tyler ended up in the same universe as her daughter, mind doing the same for me?"

"Donna, this your life, it doesn't exist there. The company, this life, everything! Do you think you could leave all of this behind?"

Donna suddenly found herself slapping John.

The others stood in shock.

"What did I miss?," Mayantha asked from under the console.

"She slapped him," said the Doctor. He looked at Donna. "You slapped him."

"Yes," said Donna.

"You never slap anyone!," said John. "Just Ethan! That once! When did I become Ethan?"

Donna felt her face burning. "Do you think I care about all of this? Money, house, cars, company, it all means nothing if my children are not safe and with me! You, I can learn to live without. I've been on my own before, I can do it again. Georgiana, never. Not in a million years. So, yes, I am coming. Deal with it!"

Donna marched out of the fresh TARDIS and they heard the door to the cellar slam. John stood slack=jawed. He looked at the Doctor, the Oracle and Amy. Mayantha peeked out from under the console.

"Did I miss something?," asked John.

Amy crossed her arms. "I might have slapped you as well."

The Doctor looked lost in thought. "So, there's another one of her there?," he asked.

"Yes," said John.

"Does that one slap as well?," he asked.

"That one slaps more," John replied.

The Doctor glanced at the Oracle with a look of anxiety.

"Well, I'm not blocking for you," she said, not needing a telepathic link to know what was on his mind.


	38. Next Stop

Author's Notes: I do not own Doctor Who. They should really just give it to me. That would be awesome of them. So, sorry for the delays, if you've read the other stories I've updated recently, you know the reasons, but let me add on, stomach bug. Seriously. Sorry. Thanks for the reads and reviews throughout this story and because it has been quite a while: hello, lurkers. More notes at the end.

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><p>This was the conversation that John had dreaded, but he knew it was necessary. Pete Tyler was no longer his friend, but Jackie Tyler was. She had been good, helping the Doctor even when she didn't like him or trust him and when she quite rightly thought he was ruining her daughter's life. She deserved an explanation. She certainly deserved better than Rose had given her.<p>

So, John went to the Tyler mansion and told them what had happened. What Rose had done this time.

Jackie was numb. Since their return, Rose's behavior had grown increasingly erratic and then finally psychotic. Discovering the full extent of Rose's behavior, what she had done in the Time Beetle universe, working with the Silence and finally kidnapping Georgiana and Lydia, was almost too much to bear. John explained what he could of Rose having transformed into the Bad Wolf, but Jackie didn't take that as much of an excuse. Her worst fears had been realized. Her daughter had turned into something strange, not even human.

Definitely not Rose Tyler.

John cleared his throat. "I know this is the part where the Doctor would promise to bring your daughter back to you safe. I'm sorry, Jackie, but I won't promise you something that I'm not certain I can deliver. If it comes down to her and someone else or something else, I can't promise to choose her. There's much more than just Rose Tyler at stake."

There was a long silence.

Jackie looked up. "I understand."

"Jackie!," Pete said in shock.

She glared at him. "I didn't say I liked it. I didn't say I would help. I just said I understand." She turned and looked back at John. "Go get your girl."

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><p>Donna had made all the arrangements for a possibly extended absence. She had phoned her mother. Sylvia had been less than attentive, but she didn't know what it was really about. She took the children to visit Ethan's parents and they were completely stymied as well. The house staff was on holiday. She had put her company on standby, it could run months without her. She hoped it wouldn't. She did hope everything would work as promised, but she was prepared for it. That was a consequence she could learn to live with.<p>

She packed up her things, carefully choosing the photos and mementos she couldn't live without. She helped Josh and Ella put together their bags. Usually, they wanted to take the entire contents of their rooms on a holiday, but they had finally grown out of it. She found herself sliding an extra memento or toy into their suitcases when they weren't looking. As far as they knew, this was just an ordinary holiday.

Her last stop was Georgiana's room. She just wanted to have some things ready for when they found her: a couple outfits, her favorite bear and her blanket.

John walked in. "We're nearly ready."

Donna nodded. "Okay."

She gathered up the bag and turned towards John.

"Are you alright?," he asked.

"Yeah," she said, forcing a smile on her face.

"We'll find her, Donna. I promise."

"But what if we don't?," asked Donna.

John was stymied. Donna was afraid. Donna almost never got afraid.

Except for one thing and this just happened to be that thing.

"Listen," said John, taking her into a hug, "Georgiana is alright. I know the Doctor and Donna have taken her in and they'll care for her just as if she was their own. She's safe. We'll find her and she'll be with us again and then we'll find our way back home, but no matter what we'll be together as a family. You have to believe that."

Donna nodded. "I do."

"Then let's go get her."

"Yeah," said Donna with a smile. "I was lying before. I don't know how to get on without you."

John smiled. "Who's lying now? I know you can get on without me."

"Yeah, but I don't like it."

"Well, I can take comfort in that then."

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><p>John and Donna descended the cellar stairs to find an argument brewing outside of the TARDIS.<p>

"Of course I'm going!," said Amy. She looked at the Oracle. "What? Did I do something?"

"No, Amy, of course not," said the Oracle.

Amy looked at the Doctor. "I helped you last time."

"I know," said the Doctor, putting his hands on Amy's shoulders. "You paid quite a price for it. Perhaps a higher price than any companion ever has. You have a new life now, Amy. I won't take this one from you as well."

"I want to help," said Amy.

"And you will," promised the Doctor.

"How?"

He paused. "I haven't worked that bit out yet. I'll let you know when we get there,"

Amy looked at the Oracle. "Well, I'm glad you're going with him. At least someone will have some sense."

Amy and the Oracle hugged. Amy turned towards John and Donna. She and John hugged first.

"I kept Jack away," said Amy. "He seemed to have this sort of fixation with his parallel self. It was getting pretty disturbing."

John smiled. "Thanks and thank you, Amy."

Amy turned to Donna and hugged her. "Go get Georgiana," she said as someone who had been in the trenches herself.

"Oh, count on it," said Donna.

Amy watched as they walked back into the newly grown TARDIS. Mayantha was inside showing the various controls to Josh and Ella.

"And never touch that one," said Mayantha. "Or that one. Or that one. Basically, the entire panel."

"Just don't touch anything," said Donna. This had to be the most nerve-wracking part of this whole journey, riding in a spaceship that had been grown in Josh's cupboard and finished in her cellar.

"Where are we going?," asked Ella.

"Anywhere, everywhere!," said the Doctor.

"No," corrected the Oracle.

The Doctor looked back at the children sheepishly. "No. Mostly we're just going to the other universe."

"Mum, what about school?," asked Josh. "Football's just starting."

"I'm sorry, Josh. It will just have to wait," said Donna. She put on a smile. "Besides, you'll be back at school before you know it. That's how it always is with holidays, isn't it?"

"How long are we going for?," asked Ella.

John walked over and picked the girl up. "Just think of it as a holiday, alright? Before you know it, you'll be back here."

"And Georgiana will be with you," said the Doctor. "Cross my hearts."

"Okay," said the Oracle, taking a place at the console. "Everyone hold on. John, take a station." She looked at the Doctor next to her. "What?"

"This is the command position," he said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Your point being?"

"Right," said the Doctor casually walking to the neighboring console. He saw Mayantha's smirk. "Could you at least pretend to hide your laughter?"

John put Ella down and walked over to the console with the other Time Lords. Ella stood close by him.

"Next stop, the parallel world," he said with a smile.

John felt Donna's hand on his wrist. He smiled at her and she forced one back at him. Josh stood at her side. He was here, with a family he didn't know was possible when he arrived in this universe.

Then they were off.

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><p>Author's Notes: The sequel shall be entitled Any Other World and will be a crossover with the normal Regarding Mrs Smith universe. I think most of you have probably been keeping up with that, but if you haven't you might want to read First Impressions, though I'm fairly certain you can get on without it. I hope to have the first part of that out quite soon. Thank you for reading the story. Hope you liked it.<p> 


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